Suffield boards meet Thursday on middle school, firehouse plans

How to watch or attend

When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15.

Where: Suffield Middle School Auditorium, 350 Mountain Road.

Watch online: The agenda lists a live stream "available for viewing only."

Public comment: It's the first agenda item. The agenda doesn't list time limits or sign-up rules.

Before you go: Check the town's meeting calendar for changes.

Suffield's Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Permanent Building Commission will hold a joint special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Suffield Middle School Auditorium, according to the town's agenda.

The agenda lists public comment and one other item: "Selectmen and Board of Finance in regards to the Facilities Master Plan: Suffield Middle School and Fire House 1." It lists no vote or action item. First Selectman Colin Moll called the meeting, according to the agenda.

The meeting "will focus on the Permanent Building Commission's recommendations from the Facilities Master Plan regarding the Middle School and Firehouse No. 1," according to the selectmen's Oct. 7 draft minutes.

The agenda's header lists those three boards; its main item names the selectmen and Board of Finance. The Board of Education is not listed. The town's meeting calendar marks a Permanent Building Commission regular meeting, listed for 6 p.m. the same day at Town Hall, as canceled.

Middle school

The building commission voted unanimously Sept. 17 to recommend "the new construction option with an estimated total project cost of approximately $128.8 million," according to draft minutes of its joint special meeting with the Board of Education. The minutes put the town's projected share at "approximately $65 million based on current State reimbursement assumptions."

The minutes say the preferred option would build a new middle school on the existing campus while keeping the auxiliary gym and nearby former locker room areas for other uses. The school district's project page, in its general description of the new-construction option, says that option "requires additional land acquisition and site development." The minutes do not mention acquiring land, and the page does not identify any. Upriver could not determine from the records which description is current.

The district's project page also says state reimbursement estimates "are preliminary and may vary." It says Thursday's meeting is meant "to review options for the proposed new school building and discuss next steps, including a potential referendum in spring 2027." No referendum date appears in the agenda, minutes or project pages Upriver reviewed.

Fire Station 1

The commission also voted unanimously Sept. 17 to recommend a new firehouse "on the proposed new site at an estimated cost of approximately $17.9 million, including the expanded program," the minutes say. They add: "The Firehouse is not eligible for State reimbursement and would be funded entirely by the Town."

The minutes say the proposed building had been reduced to about 13,625 square feet, with a mezzanine and four apparatus bays. Neither the minutes nor the town's project page identifies the proposed site.

What comes next

At the Sept. 17 meeting, Kevin Goff, the commission's chair, "stated that the PBC believed the work had reached the point where a recommendation should be advanced to the Board of Selectmen, which would then work with the Board of Finance to determine the financial implications and potential referendum process," according to the minutes.

Both motions sent the recommendations to the selectmen "for consideration and subsequent review by the Board of Finance."

How this story was made: AI tools helped research and draft this story, working from the sources cited and linked above. It was fact-checked against those sources, and our editor, Joshua Allen, reviewed and approved it before publication. See an error? Email upriverdaily@gmail.com.