SOUTH HADLEY — The town is in the early stages of determining whether it should replace or repair Mosier Elementary School, which school officials say has “developing problems” that will need to be addressed in the near future.

School officials on Tuesday asked the Select Board to endorse their application for state funding.

Superintendent Nicholas Young and School Committee members were on hand to answer the board’s questions about a “Statement of Interest,” the first step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) grant application process.

“Our task at this point is to identify we have some developing problems … and start a process that would take multiple steps,” Young said of the statement. “If we don’t do things like this to prepare ourselves, we could find ourselves in major expenses without the potential for support.”

The board made no decisions at its meeting.

The developing problems, according to a facilities report from Flansburgh Associates Inc., span four areas of concern — health and safety, code compliance, handicap accessibility and energy savings.

The report found that the school, built in 1967 with additions in 1990, has poor drainage, worn out and broken ceilings, inefficient windows and a lack of insulation and outdated systems.

In the assessment, four options for remediation of the problems were presented. A five-year “short-term plan” which does not include state funding would cost approximately $20.3 million.

Three long-term plans range in cost from $35.4 million for a minor addition and renovations to almost $43.8 million for a brand new school. With a 50 percent reimbursement from the state’s MSBA, which requires the Select Board’s approval of the “Statement of Interest,” would bring costs down to between $17.7 million and $21.9 million.

If the board were to approve the statement and the MSBA were to pick the school’s application, the process could still take years.

“You just get into the queue so that potentially if you were selected, [you] come back to the select board to appoint a feasibility study to figure out what the options are,” Young explained.

Select Board Chairman John Hine asked if by submitting the statement the number of options would be reduced.

“At that point, are we saying it is going to require a new building or major renovations or are there other options on the table?” Hine asked.

Young responded that it takes no options off the table — whether minor or major renovations — and the decision would be up to a feasibility study and town voters.

Select Board member Ira Brezinsky said, while “not making a comment about it,” that if the town were to submit a statement of interest it would be talking about either a very major renovation or a brand new building.

“I think we should just acknowledge that. That is the likely result of any decision that is made, whether tonight or in the near future,” he said.

Board member Bruce Forcier questioned language in the statement which says that a statement of interest “should only be filed for a facility where a district has the ability to fund a project in the next two years.” Forcier also questioned if that would mean an override vote.

When the town got to that point, Young answered, the “large constituency” would have a say on the issue.

“We’d have to go to town meeting,” he said. “Ultimately, assuming we are going down the road further, we would engage the voters.”

Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.