Long Lots School Building Committee

03/27/2025

March 27, 2025

Hello Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters.

The Building Committee continues to work on the plans for the new Long Lots school. The school is still scheduled to open for the new school year in 2027.

The Architects and Engineers are working on the Design Development phase where more detailed plans, elevations and finishes will be further developed. We expect this phase to be completed in the next several weeks. The Building Committee is actively ensuring that the size of the school and related preliminary cost estimates stay within the projections we shared with the town’s funding bodies this time last year.

As stated in prior updates, the design plans are largely in line with the Educational Specifications provided by the Board of Education. However, as the result of working with the School Administration, some adjustments and improvements have been made to those Specifications. Those adjustments, which are captured in the current design, will be approved by the Board of Education in the near future during one of our regular updates.

The Building Committee is also scheduling meetings with the Board of Finance as well as Planning and Zoning to share progress and seek feedback. These meetings will be very helpful in moving the project forward. We will continue to schedule our regular Building Committee meetings where public comments and questions are always welcome.

A critical part of the design process is stormwater management and the impact of the school construction and the proximity of the project to our neighbors. The site drainage plans will continue to be coordinated with reviewed by the Town’s Engineering Department for their guidance and approval. The Committee’s goal has always been to exceed current standards for water management. We will attempt to maintain that goal throughout the process.

Working with the Building Committee, the First Selectwoman notified the Community Garden’s Steering Committee in December that their personal property could remain on the Garden site over the winter. However, all property must be removed from the Garden by 4/30 in advance of initial staging and fencing activities in that area. We expect staging and fencing will begin in line with the end of the Long Lots school year. Early release work like the geothermal wells will follow.

Finally, as we have mentioned several times during our committee meetings, the athletic fields at Long Lots are currently designed to be grass fields and not artificial turf. Cost projections are based on that assumption. Any changes to that plan would have to be initiated by Parks and Recreation and go through a detailed approval process.

For additional information on the Building Committee’s progress please go our website on the Town’s page. That website can be accessed by using the link below.

https://www.westportct.gov/government/appointed-boards-a-z/long-lots-school-building-committee-llsbc/-fsiteid-1

That’s all for now. Happy Spring and have a wonderful Passover and Easter with your families.

The Long Lots School Building Committee

Upon the request of the First Selectwoman, a Long Lots School Building Committee (the “Committee” or “LLSBC”) is hereby established in order to meet the following goals (the “Goals”):

12/18/2024

December 18, 2024

Hello Long Lots Parents and Fellow Westporters.

Our last update highlighted several meetings which were scheduled with the Board of Finance, Board of Education, the PTA, the Long Lots neighbors and the Community Gardeners to update each group and receive feedback from these stakeholders. These meetings have all taken place over the past several weeks. The Building Committee will be meeting to give a project update, discuss the on-going schematic design and listen to public comment and questions regarding the project on Wednesday, 12/18 at 6:00pm in Town Hall, room 309. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Environmental Assessment has been completed and posted to the LLSBC page on the Town website. The report is very long (1,441 pages) and had to be uploaded in seven parts. Those who wish to read the cliff notes version can read the executive summary at the beginning and the recommendations on page 23 (both in part one). The Geotechnical report has also been completed and posted to the LLSBC page on the Town website. The field work for the traffic Study has been completed and the committee is waiting for the report to be submitted, at which time it will also be posted.

After several months of work between the Design Team (A/E) and the School Administration and staff to review and validate the Educational Specifications and review floor plans and adjacencies, the Administration approved the schematic/conceptual floor plan layout. Further, at the end of October the Building Committee released the Design Team to begin the Schematic Design phase of the project. The Schematic drawings will be used by the Construction Manager to provide a schematic design level cost estimate for the construction of the project. We expect that cost estimate to completed in late January.

The Building Committee has begun to look at options for site entrances and parking. This includes the bus loop and parent drop off with the goal of getting vehicles in and out of the site efficiently, student safety and keeping cars off of Hyde Lane. In addition, the Design Team has also begun to look at initial concepts for elevations of the new building. The Building Committee will be looking at the Design Team’s options for the rest of the site layout starting this week. Locating these elements on the site will also be done in conjunction with the site drainage design. We understand that many are concerned about the site drainage. Drainage and water management will always be a priority of the Building Committee. However, this project will not cure all of the pre-existing water management challenges in the Muddy Brook area. All of these additional project elements will be incorporated into the Schematic Plans for the Construction Manager to estimate.

Sustainability and the Town’s “netZero by 2050” policy are still critical factors for this project and the work of the Design Team and the Committee. We are hoping to proceed with an early release package in order to start the geothermal wells in late Spring/early Summer. The Building Committee will also continue to seek avenues to offset the costs associated with the “netZero” project costs through reimbursement and grants.

Over the last few months there has been a lot of discussion regarding artificial turf. The Building Committee in October of 2023, in both the feasibility study and our recommendation to the First Selectwoman, recommended that the replaced athletic fields should be natural grass. Nothing has changed since that recommendation. Barring an unexpected change in direction from the town, the current planning for the new fields is to be grass with enough room to allow for proper field rotation and maintenance.

The Building Committee will be meeting with the RTM’s Education Committee on January 6th to provide them with a project update. Like the LLSBC meeting on December 18th, all are welcome.

In the coming weeks/months, the Building Committee will schedule meetings with Planning and Zoning and continue to provide updates to the Board of Finance, Board of Education and the RTM.

To find all LLSBC documents and minutes please visit the Town website and click on the Long Lots logo under “Town Highlights” on the homepage or go to the link below. Most of the LLSBC meetings are recorded and can be found on the Town website at “Watch Town Meetings” which is under the “How do I...” section. If you have questions, comments or concerns we encourage all to attend our meetings.

https://www.westportct.gov/government/appointed-boards-a-z/long-lots-school-building-committee-llsbc/-fsiteid-1

That’s all for now. Have a safe and Happy Holiday season.

The Long Lots School Building Committee

Upon the request of the First Selectwoman, a Long Lots School Building Committee (the “Committee” or “LLSBC”) is hereby established in order to meet the following goals (the “Goals”):

10/29/2024

Hello Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters.

The Long Lots Building Committee will meet this evening, 10/29, at 6:00PM in room 201 at Town at Town Hall.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide an update on the status of the project. Additionally, the Committee will engage is a work session to review the Faculty, Staff and Administration’s Concept Adjacency Plan.

The Concept Adjacency Plan is essentially the initial floor plan for the new school. Careful consideration was given to the optimal layout of all classrooms, common rooms and services, as requested by the Faculty and the Administration, for both the new Stepping Stones and the Elementary School.

Additionally, as we move forward with the design processes for the new school, the Building Committee will meet every other Tuesday. The next meeting will be 11/12.

Those meetings will likely be at Town Hall unless there is a need to meet at Long Lots or another location. The regular public notice will the agenda and the time/location

That’s all for now.

The Long Lots School Building Committee

10/09/2024

Hello Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters.

Our last written update addressed the progress we made during the summer months. The LLSBC also had a public meeting in September where we discussed ongoing progress and next steps. Importantly, we announced at our meeting that groundbreaking would not take place until late Spring of 2025 instead of late this year. (Note: The push-back of the start of construction has nothing to do with water or water management.)

This update will highlight upcoming meetings that will be led by either the LLSBC or by the project Design Team.

Scheduled Project Update Meetings:

- Board of Finance (Wednesday, October 9th):
We will provide an update to the BOF that will include a discussion of the costs associated with sustainability (most notably, the use of Geothermal and Photovoltaic technologies) and the expected timelines for new cost projections associated with each of the three design phases for the Long Lots School project. We’ll do our best to answer all questions coming from the Board or the public during the meeting, including the status of the decisioning process, costs associated with the use of Turf or natural grass on the new fields as well as possibly establishing a portion of the new Long Lots as a town-wide shelter during emergencies.

- Board of Education (Thursday, October 10th):
In addition to discussions around the timeline for the project, we will provide an update to the BOE regarding how the new Long Lots building plans have been modified in response to improvements made to the Education Specifications by the Administration. These changes were discussed over the summer with the Administration, Teachers and Staff. The LLSBC will summarize these changes for the BOE. A vote (at a later meeting) by the Board to approve this Ed Spec update is required in order to stay in line with the State of Connecticut requirements for school construction.

Meetings to be Scheduled in the coming weeks (either led by the Design Team or the LLSBC).

- Long Lots neighbors (date TBD):
We’ll listen to all questions, suggestions and concerns from the neighbors and discuss the current school design. We will restate that water management, both during and after the project, is a key priority for the LLSBC and the town. We will acknowledge that the project will be disruptive for the neighbors and affirm that we will do our best to mitigate the disruption and listen to the neighbors throughout the process.

- The PTA (date TBD):
The LLSBC will discuss the project and listen to parents’ questions, suggestions and concerns about the design of the new school including parent and bus drop offs, project timing, safety, and efforts to minimize disruption for all parties during construction. We will ensure that all parents and PTA members know that the LLSBC will communicate extensively during the buildup and the actual construction of the new school.

- The Planning and Zoning Commission (date TBD):
The LLSBC will update the P&Z Commission on the progress of the project.

- Community Gardeners (date TBD):
The LLSBC and the Design Team will listen to questions and seek input and suggestions about the construction of the new relocated Community Garden. The new garden is currently forecast to be ready, along with the new athletic fields and parking lots, the year following completion of the new school building. Currently the first planting season in the new relocated garden would be in the Spring of 2028. We’ll reaffirm that this growing season (2024) will be the last for the current garden as mobilization and construction is forecast to begin in the Spring of 2025. We’ll also highlight that the First Selectwoman met with the Garden Steering Committee in late August and offered to work with the gardeners to move them to the Baron’s South property adjacent to the Senior Center. This move would allow the new gardens to open significantly sooner than the Spring of 2028 which was the main impetus for the LLSBC to suggest this in our initial recommendation in October of 2023. The discussions between the First Selectwoman and the Garden Steering Committee regarding a move to Baron’s South are outside the scope of the LLSBC and the construction of the new Long Lots school.

We’ll post additional updates as these meetings are scheduled.

That’s all for now.

The Long Lots School Building Committee

08/07/2024

Hello Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters.

Some time has passed since our last Long Lots Building Committee update on April 30th. Since then, a good deal of “back of house” work has been either started or completed.

Here are some of the notable items:

The Design Team (A/E) has been working with the School Administration and their staff to fully review and validate each detail of the approved Education Specifications. The Design Team will confirm required room adjacencies and the Administration’s team’s overall needs within the Ed Specs. These discussions will assist the Design team during the Schematic Design process. Additionally, the Design Team has met with the Town’s DPW/Engineering team to review existing site conditions.

The Building Committee and School Administration filed the paperwork with the State of Connecticut to begin the Grant application for the new Long Lots School. This application is the first part of the reimbursement process which will be ongoing throughout the entire project and beyond.

The Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is now underway. The Site Assessment is a required part of any new school project. The results of the report will be shared with the public and will be fully addressed during our work.

As we discussed during recent meetings, additional test borings for the site will begin, most likely, the week of August 12th. The results from these borings, like the Environmental Site Assessment, will be shared with the public and will be an integral part in the design of the school and site drainage.

We expect to have a public meeting within a few weeks where these items, plus an initial full project schedule (which is being developed) will be discussed

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

The Long Lots School Building Committee

04/30/2024

Hello Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters:

Our last update on March 8th addressed the Building Committee’s process to select an Architectural and Engineering team as well as a Construction Manager for the Design phase of the Long Lots Elementary School project.

On April 16th, after a series of interviews over several weeks to assess qualifications (in particular, qualifications for the sustainability aspects of the project) and reviewing cost proposals, the Building Committee selected Newfield Construction to provide construction management services for the new Long Lots Elementary School and Svigals and Partners to lead the Architectural and Engineering team who will design the new Long Lots Elementary School.

These two firms, along with their consultants, will be recommended to the Board of Selectwomen for their approval.

The next phase of this exciting project will occur over the next several months. It will be a three-step process: Schematic Design, Design Development and, finally, Construction Documents. This will lead to a set of Documents that will be used to bid and then build the new school.

The process will start with additional site testing (e.g., updating the survey, borings for geothermal testing, geotechnical and ground water information, etc.) and refining the site criteria with the design team, construction manager, Town departments and the committee.

Early on in the Schematic Design phase a tentative schedule will be developed allowing each of the Town approval bodies and departments to know when information or decisions will be required. The schedule and cost estimates will be updated as we progress through this process. Each of these increasingly detailed steps in the design process will be shared with the public during the Building Committee’s meetings. Beyond our working public meetings, we expect to hold public informational meetings where the Building Committee and the architect will present progress drawings.

We look forward to getting the consultants under contract, moving forward with the design process and keeping everyone updated on our progress.

The Long Lots School Building Committee.

03/07/2024

March 7, 2024

Hello again Long Lots Parents and fellow Westporters:

The RFP/RFQ process was highlighted in the Long Lots School Building Committee update on February 16th. We indicated that we were working with the Town’s purchasing Department to solicit qualification submissions from both Construction Management and Architectural firms who wished to be considered for the Design Phase of the Long Lots School project.

The deadline for submission of these qualification statements from interested Construction Managers and Architects was February 22, 2024.

The committee met on March 5th to discuss the received submissions. The committee agreed on which respondents would be invited to submit proposals and be interviewed by the LLSBC.

Each of the selected firms will be contacted this week and we expect to complete the interview process over the next two weeks. Our goal is to select a Construction Manager and an Architect by the end of the month.

With a Construction Management firm and Architect in place the Design Phase of this exciting project will begin.

That’s all for now

The Long Lots Building Committee

02/16/2024

February 16, 2024

Hello Long Lots parents and all of our fellow Westporters.

This week, following the unanimous approval from the board of Finance on February 7th, the full RTM voted unanimously (with just one abstention) to approve the LLSBC’s $6.8M design funding request. This appropriation, which is part of the larger Long Lots projects, will cover the preparation of Design Documents (detailed below) in addition to borings, pre-construction CM services, and other consulting services.

With this design funding in place, we’re excited to begin the next phase of the new Long Lots construction process.

The LLSBC committed during the RTM Committee meetings that we would begin to post regular updates (the goal is twice monthly) to keep everyone informed about how the process is going and to highlight upcoming and/or completed milestones. This Facebook communication process worked well with the recent renovation of CMS so we’ll use the same formula for Long Lots. We will also have these updates posted on our Town LLSBC Updates page along with other useful project information.

Two things in addition to the regular updates: 1) we are working to have our LLSBC Updates page (click here) on the Town’s website a bit easier to find by adding a link to the home page. Further, we’re working with the BOE to add a LLSBC link on their home page as well as the Long Lots Elementary School page.

Since this is a first in what will be many updates, we’ll get a bit more detailed. Subsequent updates will be likely be shorter.

So, where are we?

1. The revised 8-24 plan was approved in January by Planning and Zoning.
This new 8-24, a compromise driven change from the original 8-24 plan, contains a reduced multi-purpose athletic field on Terrace 1 (Terrace 1 is on the south side of the 13 Hyde Lane property). The details regarding the specific use of this new field are still to be worked out with Planning and Zoning and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Also, on Terrace 1 will be a rebuilt Garden. The location of the rebuilt Garden will be similar to the location of the existing Garden that will be lost during construction just as we will lose the existing multi-purpose field and lower soccer fields during construction.

2. Design Funding and Process. Approved and ready to go! Thanks again to the BOF and the RTM. This standard three-part design process: 1) Schematic Design, 2) Design Development, and 3) Construction Documentation will result in detailed drawings for the new school that will be used for State and Town approvals, bidding by the various trades who will work under the Construction Manager, and then for each step of construction.

3. The RFQ/RFP Process. This is now underway. Working with the town’s Purchasing Department, the Committee will receive responses from Architects and Construction Managers who wish to be hired. The initial response date is 2/22/24. The Committee will review all of the responses and then we will establish a shortlist of respondents to interview. From these interviews the Committee will select the Architect and Engineer team who will design the new Long Lots School and site and the Construction Manager who will build the new school and site.

4. Our Meetings: We are working to have most, if not all, of our meetings in Town Hall recorded. Occasionally we may run into a conflict with a previously scheduled Board or Commission meeting that could preclude the Town’s ability to record both meetings but we will endeavor to overcome that challenge. As we have in the past, we’ll always open our meeting to public comment.

5. Project Timing. As we work with the design professionals and go through the first stage of the design processes (Schematic Design) we will be in a much better position to understand and then share a realistic timeline for key milestones. Two in particular: the commencement of construction and the completion of construction are of the utmost importance. We’ll also include all of the required town approval steps along the way.

This is an exciting time for the students, parents and staff of Long Lots as well as the whole Town of Westport. The time will pass quickly and soon we will have a brand new sustainable Long Lots Elementary School. We look forward to working together and providing the updates to everyone in town.

That’s all for now.


The Long Lots School Building Committee

10/26/2023

Link to the press release that went out last week:

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker announced today that, as First Selectwoman, she has accepted the Long Lots School Building Committee’s (“LLSBC” or “Committee”) recommendation to build a new Long Lots Elementary School at the school property at Hyde Lane.

10/05/2023

The LLSBC meets tonight, Thursday, October 5th at 6pm, in the Town Hall Auditorium. The Committee will discuss the feasibility study and recommendations. The agenda can be found here: https://www.westportct.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/80831

A link to the feasibility study is available on the LLSBC page of the Town website: https://www.westportct.gov/government/appointed-boards-a-z/long-lots-school-building-committee-llsbc/llsbc-updates

10/03/2023

The next LLSBC meeting is tentatively planned for Thursday, October 5th at 6pm. The meeting will be publicly noticed as soon as it is confirmed.

09/19/2023

The LLSBC met on Thursday, September 14th, to review the latest versions of the six feasibility options for Long Lots. These six options include:
-one “Renovate as New” option which is a complete renovation of the existing building interior, exterior envelope and mechanicals (and also includes a small addition to the existing footprint).
-one “Renovate as New with Additions” option which is a complete renovation of the existing building interior, exterior envelope and mechanicals plus a larger addition to the existing footprint.
-four “Build New” scenarios in three different locations on the property.

Each of the new options will also include costs related to potential sustainability options.

The pros and cons of each of the feasibility options were discussed, as well as a few recommended changes. Trade-offs between the options include the ability to meet all of the educational specifications, traffic circulation, parking, project phasing and project duration, as well as impacts to residential traffic, drainage, the WCG & Preserve, fields, and neighbors. It is understandable that various stakeholders have different interests in the impacts of the project. The LLSBC is aware of, and carefully considering, all of these issues, and is working hard to explore all options and balance the needs of each group, while prioritizing the educational requirements of the students.

The next steps will be to:
-review pricing and schedules for each of the options prepared by the Construction Manager
-review field utilization information from Parks and Recreation
-present feasibility recommendations to the Board of Selectwomen
-request an appropriation for funding from the Board of Finance and RTM to move to the Design stage of the project
-submit an 8-24 application for review with P&Z

During the Design stage, detailed construction design drawings for contract bidding (architectural, engineering, structural, civil and site) will be developed and presented to all relevant town bodies for their review, comment and approval.

The goal is to begin construction in September 2024.

As a reminder, once construction begins, the entire property will be an active construction site. While students will be able to attend school, the surrounding grounds will be restricted and closed to all. The surrounding grounds will be used for construction crews, construction material storage, staging and machinery.

After the feasibility options were reviewed, the Committee fielded questions from the community for 90 minutes. Answers to many of the questions that are asked at each meeting can be found on the Long Lots School Project FAQ on the Town website.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, September 26th.