Essex School Building Committee Approves $6,201 in Invoices, Sets April 14 Cost Estimate Review

ESSEX — March 24, 2026 — Essex school building committee sets April 14 cost-estimate meeting as design decision nears. The Essex Elementary School Building Committee voted unanimously at its March 24 session to approve two vendor invoices totaling $6,201.13 — $3,021.13 to Minuteman Press and $3,180 to Cartoon EDU — and spent the bulk of the evening reviewing community feedback gathered during a same-night open house on competing school design alternatives. Owner's project manager Pam told the committee that reliable tax-impact figures for residents of Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea cannot be calculated until after schematic design is complete, with that work targeted for September and October 2027 ahead of a November town meeting debt-exclusion vote. Two independent cost estimators will present order-of-magnitude comparisons of the remaining options at the April 14 building committee meeting, where a preferred option vote may also be taken; the formal Preferred Schematic Report is due to the Massachusetts School Building Authority on April 28. During public comment, resident Sergeant Collier of 32 Haskell Court asked whether the final voter-approved price could rise after the vote, as he had seen happen in another state — a question the design team addressed by describing the reconciliation and escalation methodology it uses to hold projects to their approved totals.