As a taxpayer, citizen and parent of Scarborough, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Scarborough School Board, Jeff Messer of the Town Council, Harriman Associates, Pizzagalli Construction, Norm Justice, and the various subcontracting companies who attended the School Board meeting last Thursday.

I had written a letter last week about whether or not it’s honestly necessary to appropriate our tax dollars to hire an independent consultant to come in and conduct a thorough review of the construction project at the Scarborough High School.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to hear presentations by Mr. Messer and the aforementioned companies so that I now have definite confirmation and no reservations whatsoever about the quality, integrity and safety of our beautiful new high school!

I must admit that as I listened to Mr. Messer present his slide show that I began to wonder if I had reason to worry that this school might indeed be in serious trouble structurally or that mold was creeping around undetected.

Huge thanks to each and every one of the representatives that spoke after Mr. Messer. They also had slides – Mr. Messer’s group along with the ones that should have followed each of Mr Messer’s – which clearly showed how as each challenge arose and the steps taken to rectify and resolve them. What they had in addition however, are years and years of experience, credentials in their fields (architecture, engineering, etc.) and the other contractors who were hired on for different phases of the project.

The checks and balances system that they have in place to ensure a quality project was both surprising and reassuring. I was very impressed with integrity of all involved.

Like Mr. Messer, I have no knowledge or experience in these fields and I learned more about anchor bolts, drainage systems and roofing membranes than I thought possible in these presentations. We should all rest assured that we have an excellent, dedicated, committed and very talented group of individuals who are working cohesively to bring about this wonderful new school for our kids! To all of them – thank you so very much for your commitment!

Thank you for such an in-depth and articulate presentation – it was thorough and clear and answered the questions and concerns brought up about this project. I’m sure Mr. Messer and all of us who heard your presentations tonight realize now that to spend tens of thousands of dollars to hire someone else would be a complete and total waste of our tax dollars.

Instead, let’s allow the project to continue and get it done; forget all the negativity that has overshadowed the excitement and LET’S GET PSYCHED FOR OUR SUPER NEW HIGH SCHOOL!

One other note: Next time you see one of our School Board Members or Town Councilors, take a minute and thank them for all that they do for our town. This meeting began at around 8 p.m. and concluded some time after 12:30! These folks put a lot of time into our town. THANKS AGAIN!

Barbara Price

Scarborough