BRUNSWICK

Some of the floors at Brunswick Junior High School sag 6 inches under level. There is rotting wood in the sills and recurring water drainage problems.

Robert P.T. Coffin Elementary School is overcrowded, outdated and in need of a redesign.

To fix these problems, school officials have requested almost $175,000 from the town’s General Fund to pay for design and planning work. Used to fund Phase Two of the school department’s Facilities Master Plan, the money would be drawn from the municipal budget and used to pay Portland firm PDT Architects for design work.

When the construction project is sent out to bond during summer 2013, according to school board member Rich Ellis, the $175,000 would be replaced in the General Fund.

Total estimated cost of the renovation and expansion is $21 million — $11 million for the Coffin School and $10 million at the junior high.

Both projects would be funded by local bonds. No state or federal money would be involved.

Councilors used an identical transfer process in 2011 to fund the plan’s first phase, a districtwide assessment of building conditions. Of the $200,000 set aside then, only about $130,000 was used and the balance returned to the General Fund.

Town Manager Gary Brown said doing it this way saves the town time, money and paperwork.

State law says amending the school budget means holding a special referendum, which will take weeks to organize and cost thousands of dollars. Amending the municipal budget only takes a public hearing and a majority vote from the Town Council.

“It saves the town some money and it can get the process under way,” Brown said.

Enrollments at Brunswick Junior High School and Robert P.T. Coffin Elementary School swelled to absorb more than 20 classrooms worth of students — almost 600 children — after the unexpected closure of Jordan Acres School in 2011.

Brunswick schools Superintendant Paul Perzanoski said reopening Jordan Acres School would be prohibitively expensive — $2.8 million just to make it suitable for occupancy and another $800,000 a year in staffing.

“Both of these projects are of critical importance to the town’s infrastructure,” said Ellis, the school board member. “In our current configuration, we are using every mobile unit at our disposal, and we have compromised special-education space at (Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary) to make our current K-5 population work.”

Councilors will vote on the request during their next meeting, Nov. 19.

Town Council Chairwoman Joanne King said that, if there were requests, she would allow further public comment during the next meeting.

Also Monday, the council approved zoning changes to Brunswick Landing, allowing for interim use of existing buildings by commercial tenants.

The change should make it easier for Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority to attract tenants to the former Navy base.