A little more than a month after the last Lowell City Council nixed a nearly $40-million loan order request to fund Lowell High School construction overruns, the project is back before the new council, only this time at a reduced number.

The agenda packet for the January 6 meeting, the first regularly scheduled session for the newly sworn in council, asks for approval of an additional $36,185,757. That number represents a $3,665,091 reduction from the $39,850,848 figure Skanska, the Owner’s Project Manager, had previously requested.

You’ll recall at that meeting, “No” votes from Councilors John Descoteaux and Erik Gitschier were enough to kill the request. With Councilors Vesna Nuon and Corey Robinson not present for that December 2 meeting, there were only seven votes in favor, leaving it one shy of the eight needed to pass the motion.

Neither Nuon nor Robinson have publicly commented on how they would have voted on the original motion. In addition, the new council features three new members (Belinda Juran, Sidney Liang and Sean McDonough), each replacing one of the original seven yes votes (Corey Belanger, Wayne Jenness and Paul Ratha Yem).

Conventional wisdom in early December was that Nuon would have supported the measure, which would have been enough to push it over the top. However, since no motion to reconsider was brought forward by Descoteaux or Gitschier before the deadline, the only way to authorize an additional loan order would be at a different number than the original request.

Where and how the $3.6-million plus reduction was realized isn’t yet clear, nor is it clear yet how the council will vote when it eventually casts a thumbs up or down on the new loan request. Tuesday’s Loan Order from the Manager represents only the first reading of the request, which will then head to a Public Hearing.