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SPENCER/EAST BROOKFIELD – What will happen to about 9,000 cubic yards of stockpile material from the David Prouty High job site was a topic of conversation at a recent School Building Committee meeting.
Nick Pimentel of Collier’s (owner’s project manager) told the board that the stockpile is comprised of materials from the entire job, including all the cuts and fills from the football field, parking lots, foundations and footings for the new building.
He said the material needs a home while at the same time is in the way of the contractor starting work on the baseball field. He said the cost “to put it somewhere,” is not the site contractor’s responsibility and funding to move it will be presented as a change order when exact price is known.
Pimentel said the team’s idea is to have Marois Brothers haul the materials up to the top of the field by the water tower “to essentially get it out of the way.”
He said they would spread what was possible to have “a manageable high school size baseball field.”
Pimentel said the “ripple effect,” if you raise the baseball field by spreading of the soil, is that to be American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, an additional 10 feet of sidewalk would likely get added to the cost.
“At the same time, if the outfield shrinks a few square feet, there’s a little bit of square frontage of sod we would get a credit back (for),” Pimentel said.
He reiterated Collier’s did not have exact numbers and moving it to the water tower is seen as an effective solution.
“You are literally bringing it 1/8th of a mile back. It could be like a mini dump truck operation getting the soil up there,” Pimentel said. He said moving it off the property would not be advantageous for the schedule or cost effective.
He noted board members had previously shown interest in having “folks grab it” and did not see any difference with it being taken by the water tower or where it is now
Pimentel said as the cost would be “probably six figures,” the committee would need to meet prior to its May meeting in order to pay Marois Brothers to move it.
He was quoted a price of $80,000 to move 65% of that pile and spread the other 35%. However, that total does not include allowed markups or any of the concrete costs for sidewalks.
Pimentel said there are “a lot more phone calls to make,” before finalizing a price, but $150,000 is “a very safe number.”
Architect Kristian Whitsett of Jones Whitsett said they already spread some of it on “that upper, upper field,” but still needed to put loam on top of what is there and then seed it.
Committee member Ralph Hicks suggested contacting selectmen in Spencer and East Brookfield and offering it to the district’s towns.
“That would be a welcome gesture should they need it. You can’t just give it away,” Hicks said.
Building Committee chair Mike Ethier noted that there are “hoops to jump through,” including the School Committee declaring the materials “surplus.” Ethier added there are areas around the school property where the materials can be used.
The soil was tested in 2023-2024, Pimentel said, but has been added to since. If it is to leave the site, a geotechnical engineer must take samples to learn what is in it.
Making it available to local landscapers, for example, would require bid procurements.
Committee member Jason Monette said the bid process throws off the timeline for the baseball field development.
Steve Hemman of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools, said the procedure would include have testing done and the School Committee declaring the stockpile “surplus.” If given to the towns of Spencer and East Brookfield, no bidding is required and they could “come take it.”
“If it is private sources, they would have to go through the bid process—how much they want and what they are willing to pay,” said -Hemman. “You do need to follow procedures,” he told the board.
Ultimately, the Building Committee decided to call a subcommittee meeting prior to its next regular one on May 21, with a date to be determined.
Pimentel told the committee the work would involve an excavator “filling up two dump trucks and going up and down (the hill) for two weeks straight.”
