RE 7th D R V RE EVERE E R Vol. 31, No.50 -FREEREE Check out Advocate Online: www.advocatenews.net D CTE CAT AT www.advocatenews.net Free Every Friday annual Coats for Kids keeps 1,000 children warm this winter By Tara Vocino uring last Thursday night’s 7th Annual Coats For Kids, which was ugly sweater friendly, at Dryft Revere, the community teamed up to ensure that no child goes without a warm winter coat. OrCOATS | SEE Page 8 ganizers worked with public and charter school offi cials, the Department of Children and Families and social workers to determine need. Dropoff locations are around the city, including Dryft Revere, Power of Recovery, the police station and Volare Revere. Coats must be new. 781-286-8500 Friday, December 16, 2022 Councillors balk at proposed $499M tab for new high school By Barbara Taormina C Police offi cers showed their support. Pictured from left to right: Sgt. Joseph Internicola, Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe, Matthew Parlante, State Representative Jessica Giannino and Police Lt. Robert Impemba at the 7th annual Coats for Kids. Basketball Pats start season in overtime squeaker ity Councillors balked at the latest update on the new high school project and the attached budget of $499 million. Councillors felt they were not being given enough time to review estimates or enough information on how the city would pay for the new school. Brian Dankin, senior project manager at LeftField, explained the city was under deadline from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which helps cities and towns pay for new schools, to submit the schematic design, a budget and city approval this month. The MSBA will review the information and present the city with a formal agreement on how much of the cost the agency will pick up. Councilors were warned that if they didn’t approve of the submission to the MSBA, the building project would be pushed off schedule for several months and would not open in September 2027 as planned. But councillors were more alarmed at the half a billion dollar price tag, which allows for contingencies and unseen costs during construction. Dankin and representatives from Consigli Construction, the DAN RIZZO Councillor-at-Large contractor selected to build the school, presented slews of numbers from three diff erent estimates for the project. Estimates included unexpected costs and value management items, aka cuts, that would not aff ect the design of the building or programing at the school. Dankin acknowledged that the cost of the project has continued to climb over the past year. “It’s up around $1,000 a square foot, which is a jaw-dropping for people in this industry, but it’s in alignment with what the market is dictating for these BUDGET | SEE Page 20 Sewall St. residents at odds with ZBA over proposed development By Barbara Taormina R ON THE MOVE: Pats Co-Captain Dominic Boudreau dribbles the ball upcourt as an Everett defender moves in. Revere battled hard to take the game into overtime but lost in overtime, 6360 in Tuesday night’s season opener. See photo highlights on page 13. (Advocate photo by Emily Harney) esidents in the Sewall Street neighborhood pleaded with the Zoning Board of Appeals last week to reject Middleton developer Mario Zepai’s petition for a variance from parking requirements to enable him to build a single-family house on a 3,800 square foot lot at 118 Sewall St. The board did reject Zepai’s application but for technical reasons rather than the concerns and issues raised by neighbors during a public hearing. Building Commissioner Luis Carvagnaro spoke in favor of Zepai’s application, calling what the builder was asking for miniscule. “He’s asking to move parking to the neighboring lot to meet the parking requirement of two off - street spaces for a single-family home,” said Carvagnaro, who acknowledged that city ordinances do not allow building on the neighboring lot because there ZBA | SEE Page 19
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