Local News for Wilbraham

The building serving the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District is due to open in 2012.

The Republican / Mark M. MurrayAt the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham on Friday, William St. John, of Wilbraham, left, a student at Mile Tree School, and Justis Barbeau, Jason Ofcarcik and his sister Gabriella, all from Greenmeadow School, get their turn at moving some dirt.

WILBRAHAM – Construction workers idled their diggers, the din of heavy equipment faded, and work stopped briefly at the site of the new Minnechaug Regional High School Friday as officials broke ground for the new $65 million school.

“It’s probably one of the most exciting days of my career,” said Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea.

The 241,000-square-foot high school is being built on the grounds of the current high school. But even as the old and the new are just a few yards away from each other, the differences between them will be vast.

“The wear and tear on the current building is so stark, something needed to be done,” said Scott R. Chapman, vice chairman of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee, in his opening remarks at the groundbreaking.

The new high school will feature advanced technology, learning labs, green technology, and a modern, efficient new design.

“It will promote 21st century learning in a safe, more secure building,” said O’Shea.

Voters authorized $82 million to replace the 50-year-old high school. But with a slow economy and new construction in the region all but stalled, contractors scrambled to submit sharply reduced bids and total cost for the school is projected to be $65 million.

The state is paying 62 percent of the first $60 million; $5 million for a pool and district office is not eligible for state funding.

Fontaine Bros. of Springfield was the low bidder.

“We’re benefiting from low labor costs, material costs are down, and the contractors are looking for work,” said O’Shea.

HWRSC Chairman Peter Salerno has been a fierce advocate for the new school, now he’ll be an aggressive watchdog to make sure delays and cost over runs don’t erase the projected savings.

“There’s always the possibility that we’ll have an unexpected cost. This is an ongoing issue with every contractor. The good news is we’ve got a great contractor so there should be very few surprises,” said Salerno.

The new school is scheduled to be completed in two years, the first students are expected to begin attending classes here in the fall of 2012.

Alex Smith is a sophomore at Minnechaug and is looking forward to beginning his senior year in a new school.

“This one is worn down, the plumbing is bad, we’re ready for a new school,” he said.

Officials say plumbing isn’t the only problem. Heating and air conditioning needs to be replaced, cancer-causing asbestos needs to be removed, the old building needs new technology, and while renovation was an early option, the School Committee recommended building a new high school.

”We wanted to make sure we used good judgment and didn’t spend money in the wrong way. We took a hard look at renovation and as it turned out renovation was not in the best interest of the taxpayers or the kids,” said Salerno.

Once officials decided to build the school, voters had to agree to raise their own taxes to pay for it – which they did. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, praised voters for making the difficult decision.

“I know these referendum questions set generation against generation. But if, in a civilized society, we only want to pay for the services we utilize, it means the collapse of the greater good,” he said.

Officials plan to demolish the old high school and build athletic fields and parking lots once the new school is open.

Once construction is fully under way, an estimated 300 to 400 workers could be on site.

This is an architect’s drawing of the proposed new Minnechaug Regional High School.

WILBRAHAM – The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Minnechaug Regional High School is set for Friday at 10 a.m. on the campus of the high school.

“This will be a coming together of the student body, citizens and local dignitaries to celebrate the start of construction of the new high school,” School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said.

There may be some signs of construction before the actual groundbreaking ceremony, O’Shea said.

“A construction fence will be placed around the property, unsuitable soils will be removed, and trucks will start bringing in fill,” O’Shea said.

Once construction is fully under way, an estimated 300 to 400 workers could be on site, project manager Raymond Kinghorn said.

A meeting has already been held for residents in the Tinkham Road and Main Street areas who live near the site.

O’Shea has told residents to notify the high school of any concerns.

The new high school is anticipated to open its doors to students in the fall of 2012.

The contractor for the job is Fontaine Bros. of Springfield. Fontaine Bros. bid $53.6 million for the job and was the low bidder.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority will fund 62 percent of the project, earlier estimated to cost $82 million.

The $53 million bid will result in a savings of $10 million to the state, Kinghorn said.

Allowing for a $3 million contingency for the project, the towns of Hampden and Wilbraham should realize a potential cost savings of $3.9 million, Kinghorn said.

Kinghorn said the low bid by Fontaine Bros. is a result of the “current economic climate and contractors who are hungry for work.”

School Committee Vice Chairman Scott Chapman said the groundbreaking ceremony “is the culmination of many years of work by the School Committee, the Building Committee, our citizens and the school administration to bring a quality 21st century high school to our communities.”

State Treasurer Timothy Cahill and Massachusetts School Building Authority Executive Director Katherine Craven are scheduled to join the groundbreaking ceremony.

The Minnechaug High School band and the school’s Madrigal Singers also will participate, and there will be students representing all grades, kindergarten through grade 12, O’Shea said.

The court ruled that Wolcott is entitled to a new trial based on the jury selection process being closed to the public

The Republican file photoHampden Superior Court officers escort Donna M. Wolcott from the courtroom in Springfield in July 2007 after she was sentenced to six months in jail for soliciting someone to kill her husband.

SPRINGFIELD – The state Appeals Court has overturned the conviction of a former Wilbraham woman found guilty of solicitation of murder three years ago, ruling that she is entitled to a new trial based on the jury selection process being closed to the public.

The woman, Donna M. Wolcott, was sentenced in July 2007 to six months in jail following her jury trial before Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder. She was found guilty of solicitation of murder targeting her husband, but the act was never carried out.

The jury had determined that Wolcott, then 45 and the mother of two children, was guilty of solicitation after hearing evidence that she had talked to her cousin about wishing her husband would disappear, and asking if anyone her cousin knew needed money.

Her cousin contacted state police.

Wolcott’s lawyer in the Superior Court case, Linda J. Thompson, told the jury in 2007 that her client was an unhappy woman “venting” when she talked to her cousin.

The state Appeals Court ruled that closure of the courtroom during the jury selection was unconstitutional and violated the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing her right to a public trial. The District Attorney’s office had argued that the small courtroom was overcrowded with candidates for jury, which resulted in the room being cleared of spectators.

Wolcott was represented by lawyer Michael J. Fellows in her appeal, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Wolcott served time in jail but the length of her incarceration was not confirmed Tuesday.

Wolcott appealed her conviction on several grounds, but the state Appeals Court rejected all other arguments for the reversal. The court, for example, upheld Kinder’s solicitation instructions to the jury and upheld various rulings on evidence contested by the defense.

District Attorney William M. Bennett said Tuesday that the trial itself “was completely open to the public and conducted without any legal errors.”

“The judge did not intentionally deny access to the public,” Bennett said. “He was trying to accommodate the large number of jurors that filled the courtroom.”

The jury was convinced of Wolcott’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.

“Unfortunately, we will have to review the (Appeals Court) decision to see if we can take a further appeal on this matter,” Bennett said. “The court case was conducted in an exemplary manner.”

The Appeals Court stated that the right to open public proceedings in criminal cases extends to the examination of potential jurors. There can be cases where sessions are closed but there must be at least “some affirmative act by the trial court” to justify excluding people, the Appeals Court ruled.

“The closure in this case was ‘full’ rather than ‘partial,’” the court stated. “The trial judge was required to consider alternatives to excluding the defendant’s family and other members of the public.”