Stoneham School Building Committee Defers Architect Amendment, Debates Emergency Field Heating

STONEHAM — February 10, 2025 — Stoneham School Building Committee approves $4.1 million in invoices and defers architect amendment amid frozen turf field concerns. The committee voted unanimously at its February 10 meeting to approve Warrant Article No. 63 totaling $4,103,712.76 — including a $3,597,609 Consigli Construction invoice offset by $59,958 in liquidated damages — and a $27,747 change order. Members also unanimously approved a $75,000 allowance for additional security design services under Perkins and Will Amendment 37, which falls within a previously authorized $200,000 security budget. The committee deferred action on Amendment 36, covering Perkins and Will's additional architectural services from November through January, after members said the document arrived at 3:30 p.m. the day of the meeting; absentee member Sharon Yavani relayed the same objection by phone. The most consequential discussion involved the south turf field, where two and a half feet of frost in the subgrade threatens an April 1 opening: Consigli's Todd McCabe presented a full ground-thaw system estimated at up to $200,000, but geotechnical engineer LGCI told the project team it could not endorse the approach as a reliable path to that date. The committee directed the construction team to develop and price a lower-cost hybrid approach — deploying the heating system once without daily repositioning — and report back before the March 17 regular meeting, with approximately $1.4 million remaining in project contingency.