Finance sub-committee Monday, Nov. 26.
WESTFIELD – Disposition of the $36 million Bond Order #2529 originally intended for a new elementary school at Cross St. and Ashley St. came before the Finance sub-committee on Monday.
Finance committee chairman Dan Allie asked for a recap of the bond expenses from auditor Mary Daley. Daley told the committee that the city borrowed $3.5 million of the bond amount, and received $901,801 in reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), for a total of $4.4 million. $3.9 million to date was spent mostly on construction materials and equipment, leaving a balance of $552,311 in unexpended funds in the account, according to Daley.
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan made a request to the City Council at the Nov. 16 meeting to reallocate the unexpended balance to pay the costs of replacing the roof at Westfield High School, which was turned down for an emergency rehabilitation grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) earlier this month.
At-large Councilor Matthew Emmershy, a member of the Finance committee, asked whether spending the balance on the roof was a legal expense for the bond. Daley said that Treasurer Meghan Kane had made sure it was before she left her position.
Emmershy also inquired about the cost of the roof. Mayor Sullivan said the original estimate received by the city was $440,000. “I feel very comfortable that this number will cover the roof,” the Mayor said.
“I’m fully in support of using that money for the roof,” said Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise, before making a motion to reallocate the funds, which the committee supported with a vote of 3-0.
The Finance committee also voted 3-0 to approve a second request to rescind the Bond Order #2529, because the project for which the bond order was passed has been cancelled and the amount of $32,431,394 remains unborrowed.
“This bond was requested for the elementary school project. It cannot be used on anything else but that project,” Sullivan said when Surprise asked if the money could be used for the rehabilitation of the Franklin Avenue School. Daley said that Kane had asked if a portion of the bond could be used for a feasibility study, which also wasn’t allowed.
Emmershy asked where the money would come from for storage of materials, and was told they were moved and paid up, and there would be no future expenses.
Surprise also asked if the School Committee would consider reallocating the Ashley St. school property.
“That’s a school-owned buildable lot. To get rid of it, would be to get rid of a resource,” Sullivan said.
The third request on the bond, that the unused equipment and construction materials which had been acquired be surplused and sold or transferred to city or school department as necessary; received a 2-1 vote in the Finance committee, with Emmershy dissenting, saying he thought the materials should be used for the Franklin Avenue school.
The remaining equipment is mostly HVAC and brick, according to Mayor Sullivan. He said the School Department had already transferred kitchen equipment to other locations. “What you’re doing is allowing release of these materials,” Sullivan said to the committee. He said there are other potential uses for the materials that could save the city money.
The Finance committee’s recommendations will now go to the full City Council for a vote.
