The new Derby Middle School will be about $500,000 under budget when it opens in January.
That is according to information given Thursday night by City Treasurer Keith McLiverty to the Board of Aldermen (see video).* * * *
“We are well under budget, and I bring that up because that’s something we should be proud of,” McLiverty said.
McLiverty also announced an open house at the new middle school. It is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We encourage taxpayers to come and see what their investment is,” McLiverty said.
In March 2007, voters approved spending $28 million to build the new school. It is on Nutmeg Avenue, next to the high school, near Nutmeg’s intersection with Chatfield Street.
McLiverty’s remarks came as the Derby Board of Aldermen voted to accept the return of $300,000 in unneeded funds from FIP Construction, Inc., the company building the school.
Ken Hughes, president of the Board of Aldermen, asked McLiverty if paying for the new school would result in a mill rate increase of three to six mills.
A one mill increase represents about $900,000 in the Derby budget.
Not so, McLiverty said, adding that paying off the debt on the school will probably result in a .2 mill rate increase in debt.
The Board of Aldermen also approved a $1.08 million contract with Titan Mechanical to install a microturbine generator at the middle school.
The device will enable excess energy generated at the middle school to be channeled to Derby High School, which operates on an aging, expensive, all-electric system.
McLiverty said the microturbine is expected to bring down electricity use at the high school by about 30 percent.
