MERIDEN - Soon city councilors will make a decision on how to upgrade Platt and Maloney high schools, a project that could cost more than $200 million dollars, although the city's share will be less than that. But before officials cast their votes, they want to hear what residents think.

The City Council and Board of Education are holding a joint meeting Tuesday to hear comments about what form the upgrade project should take. The council is mulling several options, including the construction of all-new high schools or thorough renovations. The meeting will be held in the auditorium of Lincoln Middle School, 164 Centennial Ave., at 7 p.m.

Before the hearing, there will be a presentation of the findings of the Ad Hoc High School Study Committee, which spent a year analyzing the various options.

While the city has publicly studied the concept of a high school upgrade for more than four years, this is the first citywide forum on the subject, said Councilor Brian Daniels, chairman of the committee. "I'm going to be listening to hear what the residents of Meriden think about it," he said.

Education officials say the two 52-year-old schools, while safe, have numerous deficiencies that are becoming increasingly problematic. "You add up all the small things, and sooner or later you have a big thing," said Glen Lamontagne, assistant superintendent for finance.

The schools, for instance, have heating and ventilation problems, electrical systems that are original to the building and problems with handicapped accessibility, he said. There are also temperature control problems, he said, such as cold areas during the winter and hot areas in the summer.

Consulting firm Fletcher Thompson in 2006 found several deficiencies, including problems with piping and fuel storage tanks.

On Tuesday, Lamontagne will present information about the state of the schools before the public hearings. Citywide Parent Teacher Organization President Barbara Fraser said she expects that there will be a broad diversity of opinions at the hearing.

"There is going to be a huge corps of parents that are interested in it," she said. "You're going to have a variety of opinions, depending on the exposure of the person."

Five main options

City councilors will use the hearing to help them choose among a number of possibilities for the future of the schools. The committee proposed five options: (1) Construct two new high schools on the existing sites; (2) Construct two new high schools, building one on a third, newly acquired property; (3) Use a hybrid of new construction and renovation at each site; (4) Construct a new Maloney and upgrade Platt; and (5) Renovate each site without any new construction.

Each of the arrangements, deemed viable by the study committee, has strategic advantages and disadvantages, according to the report, available at http://www.cityofmeriden.org/CMS/customer-files//HSSC-Report-Final.PDF.

Two new schools, for instance, would give the city a great deal of architectural control, but the project could become complicated by the presence of wellheads to the north and south of Platt, which is on Coe Avenue.

The wellheads might make it impossible to construct a new Platt and a new Maloney at the same time. If it were impossible, the city would have to construct a new Maloney to the north of the existing Maloney building on Gravel Street and locate both student bodies in the old and new Maloneys.

That would vacate Platt, allowing for demolition of the structure and construction of a new building there. That would drag the completion of Platt out to a target date of 2017. The target occupancy date for both schools would be 2015 if they could be built concurrently.

To get around the problem of temporarily operating two high schools at the Maloney site, the study committee also found that it would be feasible to acquire property on the east side of town, such as the Bilger Farm parcel on Westfield Road or the Kogut property on Yale Avenue, to build a new Maloney. (The committee found that there are no viable parcels large enough for a high school on the west side.) This would allow the city to build a new Maloney, allowing the students to occupy the new and old Maloney. That would vacate the Platt building for demolition and new construction.

If the city builds new high schools, it will have the option of reducing the square footage of auditoriums and some other core spaces, which would reduce overall costs. But many parents do not want to see the auditoriums downsized, Fraser said, and are proud of the robust auditoriums at the existing schools.

The third option would involve the construction of a new classroom wing at each school and renovations to core spaces like the auditoriums and cafeterias. Once finished, the new classroom wings would be connected to the schools and the old wings would be demolished.

The fourth option was considered because it would avoid having to move the Platt student body to the east side and would avoid uncertainties involved in building a new Platt. The option would also allow for an improved site layout at Maloney. The committee report emphasized that Platt and Maloney would be comparable at the end of the construction project.

The report stressed that the fifth option, renovating to "like new" status, would be disruptive to school activities.

Two other options

Councilors will also have before them a couple of other recommendations that will almost certainly come up Tuesday - either delaying the project or building a single high school for the whole city.

Former Board of Education member Len Suzio has proposed building one single high school at the Hub site in the center of Meriden, which he said would be about 30 percent cheaper than constructing two separate buildings. A single high school, he said, would also save by consolidating administrative functions.

One difficulty with the concept is finding adequate land. Suzio has stated that the city could free up 25 acres by using the Hub property in conjunction with the adjacent Mills Memorial public housing properties. The project would require the city to find new housing for the Mills tenants, something that has been discussed for years.

Daniels, however, has objected that 25 acres is too small for a unified high school. The study committee assumed that both Platt and Maloney need 25-acre parcels. Other officials are suggesting that the city look for other properties that could hold a single high school.

The study committee report states that there are no viable parcels in Meriden large enough to accommodate a single high school. Some officials have mentioned the city's 300 acres off South Mountain Road - the so-called NRG property near the half-finished power plant - but that parcel lacks the infrastructure needed to support a high school, according to Daniels.

Board of Education Chairman Mark Hughes has argued that a single, large high school holding Meriden's roughly 2,500 students would be adverse to the city's educational goals, since it would create problems with security and large crowds of students.

But Suzio argues that a big high school is not necessarily a bad thing, stating that there are successful models in Danbury and Greenwich. But opponents of the concept say such communities are very different from Meriden.

What about the money?

Some are questioning whether the city should be taking on a large project at this time, due to the bad economy.

"Most people I talk to think this is the wrong time to be doing this," said Council of Neighborhoods President David Swedock. "There is just no money around. … On the other hand, this is not a project that is going to start right now. By then, things might be better."

Putting off the project would mean lower taxes in the short term, but Daniels said the schools will continue to deteriorate over the years, creating mounting bills for emergency repairs.

Total cost estimates for the project range from $230.7 million to $271 million, but the city expects that it can receive a reimbursement from the state of 77.14 percent. That brings the city's share down to a range of $63.2 million to $82.4 million, depending on which option is pursued.

The city would pay for the project using 20- or 30-year bonds. A project that would cost the city $70 million would cost an average of 1.35 mills in taxes over the life of a 20-year bond, according to the study committee report. That amounts to $190 in taxes per year for the average home in Meriden, assessed at $202,000.

While the project will cost taxpayers millions, it is not clear to what extent it will increase the tax rate. Daniels and other officials have pointed out that overall municipal borrowing will decline significantly over the next eight years, the same time at which borrowing for the high schools would begin. A projection included in the study committee report shows city borrowing declining from slightly more than $14 million in 2011 to just over $6 million in 2019. More information about the tax impact will be discussed Tuesday.

Daniels has urged the city to work quickly on the project, fearing the state could reduce the city's reimbursement rate at some point due to budgetary problems. The study committee report states that the goal should be to submit a high school plan to the state no later than June 2011, before the state is scheduled to review its reimbursement rate to towns.

The council plans to vote on an option in February. The vote will direct the school board to begin drawing up specifications that will allow an architect to put a design together.

Aside from the hearing, the council will have one more opportunity to review the options as a group. Council Majority Leader Keith Gordon has called a special workshop for Saturday, Feb. 6, to be facilitated by an official from the state Department of Education. A location and a time have not yet been set.

gmoore@record-journal.com

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