By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Plans for the new Long Lots Elementary School reach a milestone today when the town opens bids from construction companies vying to build it.

The firm chosen will carry out the third and largest of five phases in the $103 million project. It entails building the new 128,000-square-foot building on the same campus as the existing school, at 13 Hyde Lane, which will then be razed. The firm will also create parking lots and fields. Construction is expected to begin next month, the Long Lots School Building Committee (LLSBC) told the community in a recent update.

The Westport Public Schools expect to move students into the new school for the 2027-2028 school year. The LLSBC said the precise timing of the construction will depend on the bid accepted.

“The upcoming bidding process and evaluation of those bids will help establish a more defined construction timeline based on contractor evaluations, submitted contractor schedules and cost proposals,” the letter to the community said.

The new school is projected to enroll 683 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and the Stepping Stones Preschool. 

Two earlier phases entailed drilling geothermal wells, which were completed last month, and the pre-purchase of electrical switchgear and a generator to allow time for delivery in the face of nationwide supply chain delays, the LLSBC letter said.

In the fourth phase, the town will buy furniture, fixtures and equipment. The playground equipment will comprise the final phase. The town is likely to call for bids on the final two phases later this year, said LLSBC Chairman Jay Keenan.

Bids for the third phase will be accepted until 2 p.m. today. They will be opened shortly afterward in the auditorium of Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Ave.

The selection will cap a process that the town carried out slightly differently from others. While the town’s request for proposals (RFP) seeking the bids is public record, the documents were posted not on the town’s website portal, but on that of Newfield Construction, a Hartford company serving as the project’s construction manager.

Westport resident Toni Simonetti said the process caused frustration when she was unable to obtain the documents from the point person at Newfield or the town.

“I don’t understand why they’re giving me such a hard time,” she said. “Every other RFP is easily available.”

Russell Blair, director of education and communications for the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, said the documents should be available from the town.

“If the town has a copy of the public record, then they are obligated to provide you with it,” he said.

And they will, said Westport Town Attorney Ira Bloom. He said town personnel were preparing the documents and would make them available in Town Hall for Simonetti and anyone else who wants to see them.

Access to them was being administered by Newfield because of the documents’ size and complexity, he said. The documents, divided into multiple separate packages, contain almost 3,500 pages. They include 2,500 pages of specifications, about 500 pages of photos and 400 pages of appendices.

Further, Bloom said, some of the documents must be redacted because they describe safety and security elements that would be compromised if their design was made public. Bloom said the state freedom of information law permits those redactions.

Simonetti’s request was ultimately referred to Nicholas Bamonte, a partner in Berchem Moses, the law firm where Bloom serves as senior partner. Bamonte informed Simonetti that the documents were being prepared.

“We’ll get it for her,” Bloom said. “We’ll get it redacted and make it available at Town Hall. It’s just a big task.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}