Residents Vote on Huckleberry Elementary Roof Replacement

Brookfield residents and property owners approved bonding $966,541 to replace 53,000 square feet of roof at (HHES) at a town meeting Wednesday night. The 83 registered voters and two property owners in attendance approved the appropriation unanimously in a voice vote.

[Residents also voted on a and Wednesday night.]

The school district’s Director of Business and Technology, Art Colley, explained that the current roof has been in place since 1965 and a replacement has been “on our agenda in our capital projects list for several years,” however it was not the highest priority until leaks began to show this winter.

“We experienced a very severe winter last year and suffered some leaks around the flashing of the roof,” he said, forcing HHES administrators to temporarily close one of the classrooms. Rather than allow the leaks to persist, through a bonded appropriation, rather than through capital.

Responding to a question from the audience, Colley also stated that the new roof would eventually be able to house a solar power array, as the large, flat roof makes “an excellent candidate for solar in the future.”

The next step will be to appeal to the state for funding assistance of up to 31 percent of the project cost, “depending on what is considered a reimbursable expense,” Colley noted. If the town uses the full $966,541 and the entire project is state-approved, the final cost to the town would be $666,913.

The project will then go out to bid, with construction slated to begin this summer and wrap up before the 2012-13 school year.