Cost increase for new high school unknown

School will cost more than was approved; new figures coming in Jan.

BY JESSICA SMITH

Staff Writer

School officials in Monroe remain unsure about the exact cost of the new high school as they await a detailed estimate that will be completed sometime next week.

What is known is that there will be an increase in the amount originally approved by voters in a 2003 referendum, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Ferrie.

“We were very reluctant to put out a specific number,” Ferrie said, commenting on recent concerns about the increased cost. “We just didn’t want to be irresponsible to the public by putting out a number that was inaccurate.”

Although a letter including an opinion of probable cost from MRM Architecture in North Brunswick estimated the increase at about $30 million over the $82.9 million that was approved by voters in 2003, that estimate is purely speculative, according to Ferrie and School Business Administrator Wayne Holliday.

The broad-stroked estimate was the second one submitted by the group, and is based on current trends in both the market and bidding environments, Ferrie said. At a Board of Education meeting in June, representatives of MRM projected a $20 million increase in cost. That estimate was done because school officials had hoped the land diversion issues would soon be resolved. The land swap would allow the high school to be built on a section of Thompson Park.

Dollar amounts fluctuate over time, Ferrie said, because of the changing costs of things like steel, petroleum and concrete.

“It’s a very volatile world we live in,” Ferrie said.

Epic Management Co. will provide the detailed cost estimate, which Ferrie and Holliday said will be much more accurate. The estimate is expected to be presented to the public at a Jan. 10 board meeting, according to board President Kathy Kolupanowich.

School and township officials are awaiting results of a review of their environmental impact statement (EIS) for the land diversion from the Green Acres division of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which represents the last necessary approval. The DEP had 60 days from Oct. 16, when the EIS was submitted to render a decision. Peg Schaffer, assistant township attorney, said the town is expecting word by Jan. 4.

Ferrie said he and others are optimistic about going forward, and they would only begin considering a contingency plan if the approval did not come through.

“We’re keeping on course with where we’re projecting to build that high school right now,” Ferrie said. “So we’ll have to examine that if that would occur.”

The next step for school officials is to determine how they will go about covering the additional costs, Holliday said. Another referendum is one possibility, and a continuation of the existing shared services agreement with the township is another.

“We welcome these things,” Ferrie said. “There is a lot of opportunity here to meet the needs of the township’s residents.”

As the township grows, the need for more recreational services will arise, and enhanced shared services can help meet the needs, Kolupanowich said.

“It’s a really nice collaborative relationship between the township and the Board of Education,” Kolupanowich said.

Litigation brought forth by environmental and citizens’ groups to appeal the State House Commission’s approval of the land diversion is pending, but those involved with the project plan to keep moving it along.

“Unless somebody tells us that we have to stop the plans, we’re going full speed ahead with this project,” Kolupanowich said.