WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Residents of Savoy Wednesday will have the first say — and possibly final say — on whether the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project can go forward.

 

Savoy has a special town meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. at the fire house to decide whether to approve the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District's request for authorization to borrow $16.8 million for the project.

 

If Savoy says no?

 

"The project is dead," McCann Tech Superintendent James Brosnan told the Williamstown Select Board on Monday night.

 

Brosnan was before the Williamstown board because it, like Savoy and seven other municipalities that comprise the vocational school district, has to OK the plan in order for the district to replace the roof and original windows at McCann Tech, built in 1962.

 

The Massachusetts School Building Authority has committed to contributing $9.4 million toward the $16.8 million project, leaving the eight towns and City of North Adams responsible for the remainder.

 

The local share of the bond would be apportioned according to a formula that takes into account each community's population and the state equalized value of all taxable property in each municipality.

 

According to McCann Tech's regional agreement, Savoy would pay 1.91 percent of the local share. Over the life of a projected 15-year bond, the district estimates Savoy would be responsible for $183,972, with annual payments ranging from a low of $9,788 in fiscal year 2042 to a peak of $14,741 in FY28, the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2027, when payments will begin.

 

Savoy is the first town to put the question to town meeting, but it will not be the last. Adams already has a special town meeting scheduled for Oct. 28 with a special town election for a debt exclusion scheduled for Nov. 4.

 

On Monday, Brosnan was in Williamstown to ask the Select Board to consider supporting the project, which could have meant calling a special town meeting with a recommendation from the board that voters OK the borrowing or choosing not to call a town meeting at all. State law allows municipalities to approve a regional school district bond through inaction after a 60-day period.

 

The Williamstown panel chose the latter approach.

 

"It sounds to me that the way [state law] is structured, we're supposed to trust our regional school district, and if we think they did a bad job, we call a town meeting to tell them no," Peter Beck said. "I don't think that's the path we want to go down."

 

The three other Select Board members who participated in Monday's meeting agreed.

 

Jeffrey Johnson said he was "a thousand percent behind [the McCann Tech project]." Chair Stephanie Boyd called it, "an exceptionally reasonable if not great project." Matthew Neely pointed to the benefit of McCann Tech not only for its students but for the region that is served by the tradespeople educated at the school.

 

Brosnan told the Williamstown board that the MSBA had enthusiastically supported his previously announced proposal to use Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades triggered by the project as an educational opportunity to give McCann Tech students hands-on experience making the modifications.

 

He also said the district continues to work with the MSBA-approved architect to find other cost-saving measures that will help lower the amount the district needs to borrow after the bids come back later this year.

 

Brosnan said to facilitate the building project, McCann Tech started its academic year early this fall, allowing an earlier release in June to expand the building season.

 

And he noted that requests to bond big project have been rare during the 63 years the school has been in operation.

 

"I've been the superintendent for 31 years," Brosnan said. "In those 31 years, we have come to all of our communities twice. In 1997, we borrowed $1.2 million to put a new roof on the school, which is now gone, and install handicapped-accessible entryway doors. We then, in 2010, came in and borrowed $750,000 from all the communities — seven at the time, not nine, Lanesborough and Cheshire were not part of the district then. That was to install handicapped-accessible bleachers and restrooms and locker room renovations.

 

"We don't come very often to seek a project. We take care of our facility. In those 31 years, we've probably expended close to $21 million on the facility without asking to incur debt, other than what I mentioned. About $5.5 [million] to $6 million of that were Skills Capital grants for the equipment we use in a vocational school. It also was a $3.1 million state grant to build our HVAC building."

 

In addition to the support of the Select Board members, a Williamstown resident in the room on other business praised the proposed project for its replacement of the building's original single-pane window glass, which Brosnan pointed to as a safety upgrade and a move to make the building more energy efficient.

 

"A school with single-pane windows, in this day and age? This is a win-win," said Nancy Nylen, a longtime member of the town's Carbon Dioxide Lowering (COOL) Committee. "We're looking for the low-hanging fruit, there it is."

 

Before taking the vote, Boyd confirmed with Town Manager Robert Menicocci that the tax impact on a median-priced home in Williamstown would be about $50 per year for 15 years.

 

Brosnan, meanwhile, confirmed that each of the nine member municipalities in the district has the power to veto the bond.

 

"It's unanimity," he said. "If one community says no, the project is dead, and we have to start all over. There's a two-year window to reapply to MSBA, so we'd be two or three years down the road.

 

"Once we get the nine approvals, we're ready to go to bid."