Essex School Building Committee straw poll backs Option F for new $93 million school

ESSEX — April 14, 2026 — Essex school building committee takes near-unanimous straw poll favoring Option F for new $93 million elementary school. The Essex Elementary School Building Committee voted on all routine business unanimously April 14 — approving invoices of $47,094.50 to Owner's Project Manager Dore & Whittier and $71,857.40 to architect JCJ Architecture — before learning the OPM contract has nearly exhausted its budget, with a contract amendment expected to cover roughly $300,000 in additional costs offset by approximately $500,000 in anticipated MSBA reimbursements, bringing the revised feasibility study total to approximately $1.8 million. In an informal straw poll, every member who responded chose design Option 2.2F — a two-phase new construction scheme oriented toward Story Street with expanded playing fields and a walking trail — over the competing Option 2.2A, citing wetlands buffer proximity, reduced paving, and stronger community asset value as the decisive factors; one member called the approximately $2 million cost difference between the two options "2 percent" of the total project cost. A binding formal vote is set for the April 17 community meeting, with MSBA requiring the Preferred Schematic Report to be submitted at least two months before a June board vote authorizing entry into schematic design.