LYNN — Planners have made site-plan adjustments for the new Pickering Middle School after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) threw them a bit of a curve ball.

At Wednesday’s Pickering Middle School Building Committee meeting, LeftField Project Director Lynn Stapleton explained that FEMA’s new floodplain maps, which include the project site, forced planners back to the drawing board.

Stapleton said that LeftField put in an appeal to FEMA, which responded that the project would have to go through a lengthy Letter of Map Revision appeals process.

In order to keep the project on schedule, the decision was made to instead revise the site plan, which included removing a planned retaining wall and lowering the school building to create a single-tiered site.

“It’s probably a nicer site because it’s all more accessible easily,” Raymond Design Associates Principal Gene Raymond said. “The entry is above the parking-lot grade and above the the floodplain, but it’s still easily negotiable without having to go up stairs or ramps to get over a retaining wall.”

Stapleton added that the new design adds more ability for the site to drain naturally.

Raymond said that the update is still within the city’s bonding capability and keeps the project on schedule for permitting “without having to fight FEMA to change or modify the flood elevation.”

The plans were presented to the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) Facilities Assessment Subcommittee on Wednesday.

“It was a very quick, a very positive meeting,” Raymond said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of speed bumps between now and their next board meeting.” 

He said that the subcommittee is recommending approval by the full MSBA board, which will meet on Dec. 13.

“I thought the MSBA subcommittee meeting went terrifically today,” Mayor Jared Nicholson said. “They were impressed with the progress on the project.”

Stapleton said they are still waiting on the project scope and budget agreement from MSBA, and what their share and the city’s share of the project cost will be. She said she expects to receive that sometime next week or early the following week.

Stapleton also gave a report on the project’s feasibility study budget, which she said is 100% committed and 92% expended to date.

“At this point, we have roughly $140,000 left to spend of our feasibility study budget,” she said.

The project is still waiting for a legislative vote on Article 97, which deals with the use of open space for other purposes, but the legislature recessed for the remainder of the year earlier this week.

“It doesn’t look like we’ll get a vote on Article 97 until early in January or early in the new year in January,” Stapleton said.

She added that they are still on schedule to have the draft environmental impact report by Feb. 16, 2024, and final environmental impact report by April 5, 2024.