The Charleswood School construction site is well off the roadway. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

School Committee member Chris Masters volunteered to fly a drone over the Charleswood School site to document construction progress, making the offer after hearing a proposal at Tuesday’s Elementary School Building Committee meeting to hire a vendor to take monthly high-resolution drone images and produce a three-minute video.

Chris Kenney, senior project manager at Vertex, said it would cost approximately $13,000 for 26 months for the professional photography. The purpose, he said, is to keep a detailed record of the project and use it for community outreach.

Elementary School Building Committee (ESBC) member Mike Shepard noted that the construction contractor already takes photos, and it is in the project’s budget to do so. He suggested high school art students may want to conduct a project using drones.

Kenney noted Vertex also takes photos, but it is different from a drone that can capture detail by flying in and around the site in an “autonomous same pattern month to month.”

Shepard told the board he would be voting against the proposal, even though the $13,000 may seem like “chump change” in the context of a $158 million undertaking.

“It’s just another thing we would have to pay for and I don’t think we really need,” Shepard said.

Kenney noted Greater Boston Drones, selected from four vendors, has a consistent record of doing this work and is prepared to sign on.

The Charleswood School site is set so far back off the road that using the drone to document progress would allow for community members to see what is going on, chair Jon Graziano added.

When asked by ESBC member Bill Flannery if this practice is common, Assistant Superintendent Susan Rothermich replied that drones are not being used to document the Hopkins School addition/renovation project.

Board members asked about doing the photography quarterly at $4,500 or less frequently to reduce the cost.

That is when Masters, who is the School Committee liaison to the ESBC, interjected, saying, “I’ll do the [photography via drone] for free as much or as little as you want. … I’m happy to do it if you need me.”

Superintendent Evan Bishop added that he could see if there is any interest among students at the high school as well.

Kenney noted that method would “achieve the purpose with different means and save money.”

Budget information reviewed

In other business, the committee heard a project update including budget information.

Committed to date is $119,871,739, or 75% of the total project budget of $158,422,394.

Expenditures to date amount to $12,192,005, or 10.2% of the total.

The Charleswood School project has a substantial completion date of Oct. 21, 2027, and is on schedule, Kenney said.

He also presented drawings depicting the processing area, footprint of building, fencing and erosion control protection areas and more.

Kenney also showed photos of where trees have been cut down and where the access road will be located. Currently, with school starting soon, it is a temporary egress-only road.

Kenney told the board that a representative each from Vertex and Brait Builders will be on site in trailer offices beginning in early September.

This month’s work schedule includes submitting a temporary irrigation well and building submission plans, installation of erosion and sediment controls, draw and product submission for steel and other long lead items, and concrete foundation/waterproofing pre-construction meetings.

Another August task is awarding the roadway improvements contract to J.H. Lynch and getting “that contract executed and engaged on the project,” Kenney said.