WHATELY — While no formal bids were received to conduct a feasibility study on the former Whately Center School, a study will move forward anyway, as a contractor has come forward with what town officials describe as a “comprehensive” proposal.

The Selectboard Wednesday evening approved a $31,000 proposal put forward by McCabe Enterprises, a Boston-based firm, to provide the town with an economic reuse feasibility study that will entail a structural analysis of the 115-year-old building on Chestnut Plain Road. The study will also provide a potential residential use and two potential non-residential uses for the vacant structure.

Judy Markland, a member of the Center School Committee II, said McCabe Enterprises and Principal Kathleen McCabe did an excellent job preparing a report for the Exit 35 study, so she and her board decided to reach out to her again.

“She prepared what I thought was an excellent market analysis, which is why when we didn’t get responses to the [request for proposals], we turned to her,” Markland said. “I think it’s comprehensive. … I think she’s caught our needs quite well.”

Although the town initially issued a request for proposals for the feasibility study, which garnered no responses by its April deadline, the town is able to move forward with McCabe’s proposal because the price tag is under the state’s threshold for requiring an RFP, according to Town Administrator Peter Kane.

McCabe’s proposal is set at $31,000, which is already covered by the town. Whately received a $14,000 National Trust for Historic Preservation grant and residents supplemented the grant with $14,000 in Community Preservation Act funds. The remaining $3,000 will be covered by the Community Preservation Committee’s $4,500 “administrative expenses” budget, according to Markland.

McCabe’s proposal lays out a variety of initiatives it will take on as it prepares the feasibility study, including putting together a site conditions review, an economic assessment of preferred uses and an updated survey of residents.

The resident survey is of note, as the town conducted one in 2020 to determine the future of the former school, but McCabe Enterprises said “an update is timely.” When the survey rolls out in the future, folks will be able to respond either digitally or through paper copies.

“Our intention is to provide [the town] with a fuller picture and understanding of the residential and non-residential options of adaptive reuse at Center School,” McCabe wrote, “understanding the land use and zoning restrictions, the historic resources setting and the economic context.”

The study is expected to be presented to the town “within six months” to accommodate grant deadlines, according to the proposal.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.