School Board Approves Funds for Sandy Hook Pre-Construction Consulting

As a task force talks the future of the Sandy Hook School building, Newtown Board of Education voted Wednesday night to set aside $65,000 in donated funds for an independent contractor to help with pre-construction consulting on the project. Officials say the move -- which they expect to be fully reimbursed -- will serve to expedite the normally lengthy process of designing a new school.

"We had a couple meetings with the state," said Public Building and Site Commission chair Robert Mitchell, joining the board. "We've been dealing with the State Department of Construction Services, trying to work on how we can accelerate the project through the normal state way of doing things."

Mitchell said officials will work with a project management firm in an accelerated pre-construction process, potentially cutting two to three months off the project. He said officials are eying Diversified Project Management as partners in the project, saying they were "by far the one we had the best rapport with."

"If we bring them in two months from now, we don't save a thing," he said. "But if we bring them in now ... it's going to speed this project up."

The board approved drawing the funds from the town's Sandy Hook Special Revenue Fund. The town created the , from donations received in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting.

Newtown officials have said they have received assurances that the state and federal government will cover at least some costs for the project. Mitchell said Diversified Project Management's payment would likely be less than the $65,000 appropriated for pre-construction services.

Diversified Project Management, based in Boston and Stamford, is an "independent owner's representative consulting firm with the mission of providing maximum value to our clients through the objective and diligent representation of their real estate, design, construction, and facilities interests," according to their website.

Board members Debbie Leidlein, John Vourous, Laura Roche and Keith Alexander -- as well as Mitchell and interim superintendent John Reed -- were present for the short meeting, with the appropriation the only item on the agenda.

The Sandy Hook School task force, made up of officials from multiple town boards, is expected to make a recommendation on the school's future in early May.