NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council will take up a borrowing authorization for the $65 million Greylock School project at a special meeting on Monday. 

 

If it is approved, there will be a ballot vote for a debt exclusion in September for the city's $20 million portion of the cost.  

 

The committee is planning a full-court press to convince citizens of the need for a new Greylock School to replace the closed 1965 building and the deteriorating Brayton Elementary that needs millions in repairs. 

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said it was important for the members of the School Building Committee to attend Monday's meeting to show their support for the project. The project designers from TSKP Studios will be on hand to answer questsions as will the project's financial adviser. 

 

"It's an exciting night. It's really the first night that we publicly showcase this project to the City Council," the mayor said at the committee's meeting early this week. "We really need the School Building Committee there ... 

 

"You may not have a speaking role, you may want to speak, but we need to really show the support of the council and also really praise the hard work that this committee has been doing."

 

The School Department has created several videos including a show on Northern Berkshire Community Television, presentations, a FAQ and a website about the project.

 

Two community forums will be held in August: the first on Aug. 15 at Greylock Elementary School and the second on Aug. 22 at Brayton Elementary School. Both are at 6 p.m. and will include tours of the school. They will also be accessible over Zoom.

 

The debt-exclusion vote is tentatively set for Tuesday, Sept. 24. A firm date is expected to be announced on Monday.

 

"The vote is very, very important at this time, this is a critical time for us to have a positive result," the mayor said.

 

The committee reviewed three videos that talked about the school building, the investment in the future and the educational plans. All three are available on the website. 

 

Committee member Bonnie Tatro thought the short videos were very well done. "That's really gonna put us in the right way with the general public," she said. 

 

The city has been working on a school building project for more than five years at this point, though discussions about Greylock's future date to a prior project in 2010. The initial push to renovate or rebuild Greylock was slow-rolled first because of the pandemic and then shelved in 2021 when the Massachusetts School Building Authority raised concerns over enrollment and costs. 

 

It was revived months later after the MSBA approved a request to consider Brayton as part of the project. The result was the decision to reconfigure the grades into early education and Grade 3-6, close Brayton and build a new Greylock.

 

The MSBA has approved a $65 million proposal of which the city will be expected to provide $19,600, or 30 percent, of the cost. 

 

"We all know the cost of construction and we all know the sensitivity of the community when it comes to taxes," Macksey said. "But we really need to sell that this is a launching pad of our future. And you'll see a lot of talk about that in these videos."

 

The committee voted on Monday to recommend the $65,362,859 borrowing to the council. If it passes to a second reading this coming Monday, the order will be published and have a second vote on Aug. 13. 

 

"I can't say enough how important it is for the School Building Committee and for the School Committee members who can attend to be there and support this project," said committee member Richard Alcombright. "As you stated, there have been just countless hours and countless work by you, by the administration by all involved in this and it deserves our time and our talents to be there. 

 

"Again, I'm very enthusiastic about this motion. It took a long time to get here."