Town Will Realize Nearly $5 Million in Benefits from New School’s Sustainability Features

Report on the Meeting of the  Elementary School Building Committee, Nov. 13, 2026

The Elementary School Building Committee’s (ESBC) most recent monthly meeting took place on Nov. 13, 2026, over Zoom and was recorded.  

Construction Update

Connor Palazzo from Accenture (Owner’s Project Manager) reported that the paving (roadway and parking) in the northern end of the Amethyst Brook Elementary School site should be completed by the end of November. The walking paths around the property’s periphery are also being completed, as are the sand and loam layers of the playing fields, with some seeding expected before the end of the year. Kseniya Slavsky (also from Accenture) reported that commissioning the mechanical systems is still in progress.

Bob Peirent (town capital projects manager) reported that Eversource’s final work to connect the project to the grid should be done next week. Town Manager Paul Bockelman noted that the Town Council will issue an appropriation order for $200,000 from Free Cash to pay electricity fees for service the school will have received before these final PV array connections. During public comment, this reporter questioned why the town should be responsible for these fees when it was not the actions or inactions of the town that resulted in a delay of the generation of electricity by this net zero facility. 

Nearly $5 Million in Benefits for Sustainability

Peirent said that the town has received $1,291,500 from Eversource, an incentive for having met MassSAVES requirements for construction. The town can expect another $168,625 in operating incentives once it demonstrates 12 consecutive months at an EUI of no more than 25. These funds will directly offset the town’s borrowing through the debt exclusion override.

The town also expects to receive federal tax credits of approximately $1 million for the photovoltaic system and between $2 and 3 million for the geothermal system. The credits will actually come in the form of a direct payment to the town that will be deposited in the capital stabilization fund. The final amounts will not be known until the application process is completed (sometime after July 2027) and the IRS responds (November 2027); receipt of payment is anticipated in early 2028.

Invoices

Billing for the project is approximately 95% complete. All invoices were approved unanimously. 

Accenture (OPM) $ 71,722       

DiNisco Design (Architects) $ 32,404        

CTA Construction (General Contractor) $ 1,396,426

Allied Testing $  418 

Hertz Furniture $  2,000

Pro AV Systems $ 22,291

Sertex Broadband $ 2,596

Demco (furniture) $  3,786

Advanced System Integ $ 51,917   

Total Bills for October 2026 $   1,583,561

Accenture noted that most of the payment to CTA was a release of retainage with less than $500,000 of new work performed last month. Because the ESBC will now meet every other month, they voted unanimously to delegate approval of future invoices to town staff but will continue to receive a presentation on expenses at their meetings.