At the October 11, 2023 Town Council meeting the council voted unanimously in favor of the motion to approve the School Building Advisory Committee’s (SBAC) unanimous recommendation to contract with Harriman as the architectural design team for the school project.  The motion also orders the Superintendent and Town Manager to negotiate said contract and authorize the Town Manager to sign the contract for services.  On October 10, the School Board voted unanimously in favor of the same motion.

Five firms submitted applications to the SBAC’s Request For Designer Qualifications released this summer.  All five firms presented qualifications in interviews on September 21 and 25.  The committee met with Harriman twice.  Superintendent Chris Record said, “They really blew us away.  They have extensive experience in building schools throughout Maine and have tackled projects from renovations to new buildings.”  Co-chair of the SBAC Cindy Voltz said, “They have a clear understanding of public-school buildings in Maine and all the unique nuances of such a project, including funding challenges.  They have a good understanding of our project and our history, and they have worked with our town in the past.”  

At the Town Council meeting, in response to a citizen who was unsure of the budget amount, Town Manager Matthew Sturgis explained that the budget was established over the summer and that the Town Council approved bond funding in the amount of $950 thousand.  From that amount, approximately $350 thousand was allocated to the architects -- which matches with the proposed Harriman contract.

On a second related agenda item, the Council voted 5-2 in favor of approving the SBAC’s unanimous recommendation to contract with CESO Communications  as the communication consultant for the school project; to order the Superintendent and Town Manager to negotiate said contract; and to authorize the Town Manager to sign the contract for services.  Again, on October 10, the School Board voted unanimously in favor of the same motion.  Councilor Penny Jordan, who co-chairs the SBAC with Voltz, said, “What we are trying to achieve is to ensure that the citizens are aware on an ongoing basis, of all of the work that we are doing -- the SBAC, architect, owner’s representative.  This is about ensuring that the communication that has been asked for and came out loud and clear in the surveys, that we are able to meet those needs.  This consultant will help us develop that framework.”

Councilor Gretchen Noonan, a member of the SBAC, added that a subcommittee met with Harriman an additional time to find out their capacity to provide communications support and thus potentially avoid the need to hire a communications consultant.   Upon further discussion with Harriman, Noonan said, “We discovered that they are going to be a wonderful resource for content, but not so much for strategy or the project management – which we learned the last time, is too much for a volunteer committee to take care of.”

During the School Board meeting, Record also cited that the survey revealed the public’s strong desire for communication and transparency, “They want to know what’s going on; they want to be involved and we know that we have learned that we need help doing this.  Part of the SBAC charge was to hire a communications consultant to lead this effort; to guide us on messaging; when we should give it; and how do we give it to keep our public informed.”  Voltz added that while CESO itself is a communication firm, “The lead partners in the firm were all former communications directors in public schools.  That really stood out for us.”  School Board and SBAC member Caitlin Sweet concurred and added that the decision to move forward with CESO came after, “A lot of careful consideration and due diligence on whether this made sense as an expenditure for the Town.  Communication is something that people underestimate how much work is required to do the work well.”  A consultant focused on this alone will, “Have a dramatic difference on the efficacy of the communication and reliability and timeliness of that information,” Sweet added.

Town Councilor Susan Gillis, who ultimately voted against the motion to approve contracting with CESO, questioned why the SBAC would need to hire this firm at this juncture, “Do we need a communication consultant before we even have a project?”  Jordan answered that part of what the committee hopes to achieve as they move towards a solution is, “That the community is engaged as much as possible.  We will be going through feasibility studies and as we find out what the existing situation is around the buildings, we want to be able to communicate that clearly and concisely in many different ways.”  Instead of waiting until there is a design, “Start the communication up front, bring people along with the journey, and travel it together,” Jordan said.  Record, who was in attendance at the council meeting, said that with the prior building project, “There was not a communications consultant as part of that [contracted work with Colby Company].”  Chair Jeremey Gabrielson recalled that the communication work of the last building committee was a combination of, “In-house communication services by the architectural firm as well as the volunteer work of the committee.”

Councilor Timothy Reiniger, who voted with Gillis in opposition of the motion, said, “I am increasingly troubled by hiring outside professionals, outsiders generally on various issues, to help us sell something to the public.  Shouldn’t these things be able to stand on their own merits?  To use taxpayer money then to be lobbying the public; I am troubled with this trend.”  

Councilor Nicole Boucher responded, “I was on the public outreach subcommittee [of the former building project] and shouldered writing a lot of the posts of what was going on,” as a volunteer, who also worked full time, “I did not have enough time."  Boucher continued, "I don’t think that we should be putting expert roles on volunteers in the community because you can’t do your best work when you are fitting things in the margins.  I think it is irresponsible to spend $259 thousand on an owner’s representative, $350 thousand on architects, and then scoff at $24,000 to let people know how to get involved with the project.”

Jordan added, “We are now in the 21^st century and we need to ensure that we are using all mechanisms available to us in order to ensure that there is clarity in the work that we do relative to ordinances, projects – whether it be schools or roads or municipal buildings.  If we don’t recognize that communication and clarity is an integral part of the work we do, then we have our heads buried in the sand.”  

In conclusion, Gabrielson said that what he appreciates about the current proposal is that it provides what people want; not only from what came out of the survey, but from the public comments leading up to last years failed referendum.  “There was a desire from a broad cross-section of folks, both in support and opposed to the prior project, for more information and ability to engage in the process as it was being developed.”  As there is no specific building project currently, a communications professional can, “Help the public understand the process and then the range of options that are ultimately developed.  I think that this will lead us to an outcome where folks feel more engaged and more informed about the decision that we will ultimately be asking them to make next November [2024],” Gabrielson said.