Essex School Building Committee Approves $300,000 OPM Amendment, Launches CM Proposal Process

School Committee · Meeting of June 23, 2026

Essex Elementary School Building Committee unanimously advances five construction management firms to the proposal phase and approves a $300,000 owner's project manager contract amendment. The committee voted Tuesday to solicit full proposals from Bond Construction, Consigli, Demio, Gilbane, and WT Rich — all five firms that submitted statements of qualifications under the project's request for qualifications rubric — with interviews scheduled before the CM Selection Subcommittee on July 21 and 22 and a full-committee recommendation expected July 28. The $300,000 Amendment No. 2 to the Dorn Whittier Management Partners OPM contract, which had required a corrected school committee vote due to MSBA-required language changes, brings OPM contract authority to $1.5 million, funded through MSBA reimbursement dollars rather than new appropriations.

The committee also reached consensus — without a formal vote — to carry Option 2, an all-electric variable air volume displacement system with an air source heat pump chiller-heater plant, into schematic design, passing over a geothermal option that projected $908,000 in 50-year savings but carried higher upfront costs and uncertainty around federal Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. "The single number that matters to the taxpayers at town meeting is going to be the capital cost, period," one member said.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,131 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of June 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.