Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

hopkinton-independent-logo2x
Hopkinton, MA
loader-image
Hopkinton, US
11:33 am, Monday, February 24, 2025
temperature icon 40°F
Humidity 54 %
Wind Gust: 11 mph

SIGN UP TODAY!
BREAKING NEWS & DAILY NEWSLETTER





ESBC discusses changes to Charleswood School parking plans

by | Aug 14, 2024 | Education,

Modifications to the parking lot plans for the Charleswood School were among the topics of discussion at Tuesday’s Elementary School Building Committee meeting.

To address concerns raised by the Planning Board and Conservation Commission during the permitting process so far, the Perkins Eastman design team is altering its plans for paved and overflow parking lots.

Dan Colli, Perkins Eastman project manager, said architects are shifting an athletic field to the west and splitting the original overflow parking area into two parts. One side will remain on the west, and part of the lot will be relocated to the east and paved.

He said the designs are “a work in progress,” but he expects there ultimately will be 230-240 paved parking lot spaces and 30-40 in the overflow lot.

Colli noted the Conservation Commission had concerns that the entry road would be encroaching on the buffer zone for wetlands. The committee suggested a shift of about 10 feet, which he found reasonable. The change provides the benefit of extra parking, he said, adding about 15 spaces.

Vertex Project Manager Chris Eberly said it is in the project’s best interest and “advantageous” to not go through a zoning special permit process for parking. Instead, Eberly said, he reached out to the building inspector to draw parallels between this project and the Hopkins School addition.

The Dover Amendment previously was used to allow the new school to have three stories, for example.

Here, the amendment, which exempts schools from certain zoning restrictions, granted waivers of requirements for parking counts, buffers from property lines, and frontage because the project is contiguous with Marathon School, he said.

Not requiring a landscaped island in the parking lot also makes it easier to plow, Eberly said.

Eberly said the reason for the unpaved lot was to limit the impervious area. He said the plans had to be “revisited” to avoid growing it by more than 10% to avoid triggering a change notification order (process) from the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) office.

Colli added that it is more expensive to have a paved lot connected to the drainage system.

“It’s a small impact for a pretty big gain,” Colli said.

Eberly said moving the buffer zone preserves the potential for a future (walking) connection with development coming in to the north, which Eberly said is not part of this project.

Updated drawings will be released next month, and Eberly said, “If we need to discuss the scope of some of these modifications to bring them in line with budget expectations, we’d have that discussion at that time.”

He said the cost for parking/paving could be absorbed in the budget. He noted that at the last budget cycle, the construction budget was running $1.5 million under estimates. Responding to a question about using contingency funds, Eberly said contingency usage versus scope cuts would be decided on by the ESBC.

He said things are in a “reasonable place” when it comes to the $123 million construction budget.

Passive House funding outlined

The ESBC also talked about $87,890 being used for a technical support specialist to ensure requirements are met for a Passive House certification. A total of $16,500 will be allocated for air quality tests that MEPA requested as part of a single Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

ESBC chair Jon Graziano emphasized this money was within the existing budget. Eberly said $300,000 was put aside under “other project costs” and would be the source.

Eberly outlined Passive House energy code for the benefit of new School Committee voting member Chris Masters and alternate Kyla McSweeney.

He said it is like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and has a goal of a “carbon free, highly efficient building.”

Getting Passive House certification is a “straightforward method to achieve energy code compliance,” Eberly said.

It results in a 3% addition to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) formula for reimbursement, he explained. Another 1% can be achieved through LEED, thereby changing Hopkinton’s reimbursement rate from 44% to 48%, or about $62 million.

The Vertex representative said they are waiting for comments from the local permitting boards prior to appearing before them again in the upcoming two weeks.

HopIND-Test-Web-Ad

0 Comments

Related Articles

School Committee tasked with reducing FY 26 budget by $415K

The conversation will continue at the Feb. 27 School Committee meeting about how to reduce the fiscal year 2026 school budget by $415,000 as requested by the town manager’s directive. The School Committee previously approved a budget of $67,190,630, and this change...

Hopkinton Public Schools sign

Estimators have Charleswood School project under budget

According to two estimators, the Charleswood School project is under budget at the 90% construction document phase by $8.7 million, averaging $116.2 million. That estimate includes building construction and roadway costs. The Elementary School Building Committee on...

Charleswood School

School district prepares for ‘possibility’ of snow day tomorrow

Ahead of an impending snowstorm, Hopkinton Public School officials have notified parents and caregivers about the potential for a snow day on Thursday. "At this time, I am not prepared to make a decision about whether school will be open tomorrow," Superintendent...

Snow on school buses

School Committee approves adaptive playground article for warrant

During a brief Zoom meeting Thursday night, the School Committee voted to sponsor a warrant article for an adaptive playground to be located at Marathon School. With its current wording, the article would ask the town to “vote to raise and appropriate, transfer...

Hopkinton Public Schools sign

ESBC discusses road improvements, abutter outreach

The Elementary School Building Committee working on the proposed Charleswood School expects to meet with the Conservation Commission on Jan. 28 to discuss road improvements for the project. At ESBC’s Tuesday meeting, Vertex project manager Chris Eberly said an...

Charleswood School plan
Key Storage 4.14.22