MVHS Renovation Project

The Total Project Cost is $24.9 Million Dollars. This is a Set Price, and the total cost cannot increase.

If the bond is approved, it will be for 20 years. The payments for the first year are interest only and minimal. Starting at the second year, payments will be approximately $2M and decrease each year from there. The decrease starts at 2% and increases to 4% by the end of the 20-year period. The impact to taxpayers based on current property values and student enrollment is between $47 and $87 per $100,000 of assessed value of your home.  For example, if your home is assessed at $300,000, you will pay between $141 and $261 per year at the highest, and it will decrease incrementally each year thereafter.

The bond interest rate will be set through the Maine Bond Bank and is expected to be approximately 4%.

The building has hazardous materials that need to be remediated. Handicapped accessibility is very limited and, in most spaces, does not accommodate students, staff or parents with mobility impairments. Lastly, the building systems are old and at end of life. They do not function at the most basic levels and need to be addressed before they get worse or fail completely. Below is a synopsis of the current conditions:

Indoor Air Quality and Hazardous Materials: Approximately 45,000 square feet of flooring in the building is comprised of composite vinyl asbestos tile. The tile found in the classrooms is mostly in decent conditions with minor cracking and chipping occurring. However, the asbestos tile located in the corridors, which receives routine heavy traffic, has many visible areas of missing or chipped tiles, leaving an exposed black mastic residue. The maintenance staff routinely replaces chipped and heavily damaged tiles throughout the year. The staff is relegated to replacing not more than the recommended limit of 3 linear or square feet. As a result, many areas in need of replacement must remain because they extend beyond the 3 linear or square foot limit. Several locations, particularly in the corridors, have a patchwork of flooring materials amounting to far more than 3 linear feet, as patches have been provided year over year. Given the number of cracked and missing tiles, the school needs to expand their maintenance plans and keep up with the patchwork. It should be noted, there are missing tiles in most rooms, it would be a massive undertaking to patch each one. The appropriate course of action is to replace all flooring containing asbestos.

It is noted that some of the ductwork within the ceiling is wrapped with asbestos insulation. There are acoustic ceiling tiles in most locations, with exception of some service areas. However, the building systems above the acoustic ceiling tiles require access for frequent general maintenance and repairs. Moving the acoustic ceiling tiles, with the asbestos insulation above, can mean that some of the contaminated dust and debris makes it into the air when any of the ceiling tiles are removed or adjusted during routine maintenance. This does not only impact the technicians serving the building, but also the educators, admin and the student population. The threat is especially heightened if any of the asbestos insulation is disturbed.

Accessibility: The building was constructed prior to the implementation of guidelines for accessibility. The restrooms, locker rooms, main office and counseling suite are not handicapped accessible. Students and parents in wheelchairs struggle to interact and get the same level of care and instruction that an able-bodied student receives. 

Water: The school faces a two-pronged issue when it comes to water. First, the existing water holding tank does not hold enough water to supply the school and routinely runs out of water, especially during athletic events or other large gatherings. The second issue that the school is faced with is the water quality with regards to arsenic. The school is often just under or at the PPB threshold that is required to maintain for safe drinking water.  Currently, the students and staff do not drink water from the fountains or tap, bottled water is provided instead.

Heating and Ventilation: The current boiler is almost 40 years old and considered end of life. The District has a planned replacement for the heating plant but 32 unit ventilators remain throughout the building. The unit ventilators are 27 years old and are approaching end of life. These systems are loud, inefficient, do not heat the space adequately, and are designed to pull in outside cold air to mix with the return air, resulting in energy waste and cold indoor temperatures. These systems are prone to leaks, difficult to source parts for, and expensive to repair. There are fluctuations as much as 10 degrees throughout the building on any given day.

The classrooms within the Industrial Arts wing receive heat through a fan coil which is undersized for the square footage resulting in an inefficient and ineffective system. There is a separate ventilation system, that when operating to meet code minimums, overpowers the heating system resulting in very cold indoor conditions.

Ventilation: There are limited exhaust fans within the student locker rooms and some but not all bathrooms. None of the exhaust fans meet the code minimum by today’s standards.

Plumbing: The existing 6” main cast iron sanitary piping throughout the school has severely corroded, which has reduced the interior diameter to approximately 3” – a 75% reduction in capacity. This reduction has created a number of ongoing maintenance challenges as well as health and safety concerns for the school’s population. Back-ups happen often, which often requires the drain to be snaked to allow the flow to resume. This is not only an inconvenience that delays use of fixtures, but also introduces toxic sewer gases, bacteria, viruses and potential mold growth. People that are exposed to these conditions can develop respiratory issues and weakened immune systems. Addressing this issue will allow the staff and students to avoid these harmful situations. Additionally, the cost of ongoing maintenance and repair to maintain the failing drainage system is significant.

Electrical: The electrical that was installed in 1969 when the building was first opened is not up to today’s standards. More electrical outlets are needed in all classrooms to charge devices, run equipment and operate the building. The wiring is outdated Romex wire. Most classrooms have only 2 outlets, which is insufficient for 21^st century learning practices.  The existing electrical infrastructure does not meet current code or standards for an educational facility.

The project will provide critical infrastructure upgrades for a safer and healthier building.

Infrastructure Upgrades: 

• Abate hazardous materials. 
• Install larger water storage tank and arsenic treatment system for water safety
• New heating and ventilation to meet current codes, provided missing ventilation, create a more efficient and thermally comfortable indoor condition
• Replace the existing cast iron main drain with a new system
• Electrical system upgrades for safety and educational tools for 21^st century learning

Security Upgrades: The school does not currently have a secure entry sequence. Right now, visitors are buzzed in and check in on an honor system. The renovation would add a layer of security that would force all visitors to check in at the main office before entering the school.

Building Code Upgrades: The project will install a sprinkler system throughout the building to meet the current standards of life safety and fire suppression. Additionally, the project will create required smoke and fire separations.

Handicapped Accessibility Upgrades: The building was constructed prior to the implementation of guidelines for accessibility. The restrooms, locker rooms, main office and counseling suite are not handicapped accessible. Students and parents in wheelchairs struggle to interact and get the same level of care and instruction that an able-bodied student receives. It is incumbent upon the district to make upgrades for ADA starting in 2028 to accommodate a wheelchair-bound incoming freshman. 

Student Services Upgrades: The project will create a dedicated student resource space for counseling and health. The student resource suite will be located near the front entry so parents attending meetings or picking up a child from the nurse’s office do not have to navigate through the building but rather can access their child directly off of the front office. This approach limits members of the public and maintains secure access for students and staff.

Voting Day is June 9th from 8am to 8pm

• Friendship: Town Office, 6 Harbor Road
• Union: Town Office, 567 Common Road
• Waldoboro: Town Office, 1600 Altantic Highway
• Warren: Masonic Hall, 105 Camden Road
• Washington: Bryant Room of Gibbs Library, 40 Old Union Road

Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026. The renovation will stretch across 3 summers, and will not occur during the school year to avoid adversely affect the students and staff. 

• Summer 2026 will focus on installing the new heating plant, water safety and storage issues, and remediating the hazardous materials
• Summer 2027 will focus on updates to the plumbing, electrical and flooring
• Summer 2028 will focus on framing and finishes

A detailed breakdown of the construction schedule will be made available ahead of each planned work period.

The building has reached a point where doing nothing is not an option. All the scope elements of this project are related to the basic project goals of addressing health and safety, making the best use of the existing space to avoid building a costly addition, and using taxpayer funds responsibly. This renovation is crucial to providing students a safe, accessible and modern learning environment. It prioritizes essential upgrades while ensuring fiscal responsibility.

No, by upgrading to modern HVAC, plumbing, and building systems, the building will cost less to operate for a multitude of reasons, one of which being new equipment is far more energy- and water-efficient, reducing utility bills significantly. Updated systems are also more reliable, which lowers the need for frequent emergency repairs and minimizes costly downtime. In addition, improved controls and automation allow the building to run only what’s needed, when it’s needed, cutting waste and extending the lifespan of equipment. Over time, these efficiencies translate into predictable, lower operating and maintenance costs compared to an aging, failing facility.