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Date: 11/3/2022
WILBRAHAM – Faced with three problematic options on how to avoid a stall in the senior center building project, the Wilbraham Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a $385,000 compromise.
The Oct. 31 meeting brought together the board, Finance Committee Chair Marc Ducey and member Jeffrey Farnsworth, members of the Senior Center Building Committee and residents to find a solution to an unexpected lack of funding, despite a Special Town Meeting vote two weeks prior that approved $1.8 million for the project.
Funding history
After $10.9 million was approved by taxpayers at the 2021 Special Town Meeting, five bids were submitted by general contractors. The lowest bid came in from W.J. Mountford Company, but the company soon withdrew the bid. Bidders can do so under law if they present documentation of a mathematical error in calculating the bid.
To fill the gap between the least expensive bid and that of the next lowest, D.A. Sullivan & Sons, an article requesting $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding was added to the Oct. 17 Special Town Meeting warrant. The funding was approved, but four days later, D.A. Sullivan & Sons also pulled its bid.
“I’ve never seen it before, where the two lowest bidders withdraw,” said George Fontaine, chair of the Senior Center Building Committee. Daniel Pallotta of P3, the Owner’s Project Manager, agreed, saying he had never seen it during his time in the business.
The next lowest bid, submitted by P&P Contractors, is roughly $14 million, $1.3 million more than the $12.7 million approved at the two Town Meetings.
Options
Fontaine laid out three options to move forward on the project. Option one would involve the town providing the extra $1.3 million for the project, either through additional ARPA funding or free cash. There is $1.9 million of ARPA funding remaining for the town to allocate.
For such a figure to come from free cash, it would require that another Special Town Meeting be called. There must be a 50-day period between calling and conducting a Special Town Meeting. However, the bid from P&P Contractors is only on the table for 30 days.
Board of Selectmen Chair Carolyn Brennan suggested using ARPA funding for the project to secure the bid before it expires. If the free cash were approved at the Town Meeting, the ARPA funding could be redirected to other projects.
Ducey told the board, “Everyone in [the Finance Committee] agrees there is a need for a new senior center.” From there, he emphasized that he was not speaking on behalf of the committee, as a quorum was not present. Ducey said he was concerned that the town had already dedicated more than 50 percent of its reserves to a project that was over its projected budget by $3 million. The Finance Committee and the town accountant are currently trying to rebuild those funds, and as such he was hesitant to use free cash. Meanwhile, Ducey said, there are several capital needs that will not happen without ARPA funding. Brennan disagreed, saying several projects on the potential list of ARPA fund recipients can, instead, be funded through Town Meeting approval. She also noted that ARPA funds cannot be used to rebuild the town’s reserves.
Ducey suggested asking residents at a Town Meeting to raise the money. “I don’t think it will be a major impact on tax bills,” he said. At least 60 days would be required to request a debt exclusion, Town Clerk Carole Tardiff said, since ballots must be printed.
Option two would be to go out to bid again, with some minor changes and hope that the numbers would come back lower.
Pallotta noted that the town knows what the cost will be if they decide to take the first option, however, if the project is rebid, there is no way to know if any of the offers will be equal or lower than the current lowest bidder.
Robert Puchalski of P&P Contractors addressed the board. He said he had concerns about the two low bids when they were submitted, noting the other three bidders submitted figures within a narrow range.
If the lowest two bids were discounted as calculated incorrectly, there is a 13 percent spread between P&P Contractors and the next lowest bidder, Select Board Clerk Susan Bunnell pointed out, asking Pallotta if that was normal. He said that while bids depend on several variables, it was a typical spread. Ted Sowa, a member of the Senior Center Building Committee, commented that the bids are within the range he expected.
“Seeing the numbers today, versus in a few weeks, I’d be shocked if it didn’t go up,” Puchalski said, adding that subcontractors are expecting a rise in material prices after Jan. 1, 2023. He did acknowledge that he had an interest in the board’s decision.
Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Theresa Goodrich expressed her concern that contractors would high-ball their estimates, assuming the town was willing to put more APRA money into the project as it had just done at the Special Town Meeting.
“It’s not just free cash to throw at this project,” she said. That said, Goodrich commented that she was “all for” a re-bid.
A resident asked “what evidence” there was that a rebid would result in a lower price?
Pallotta remarked, “I don’t know that option two is going to be a panacea, but it gets us more data.”
The third option presented would involve redesigning the project and sending it back out to bid in six to nine months. Ducey asked how much the project could be redesigned before it would constitute a different project, requiring a new Town Meeting vote. Town Administrator Nick Breault said he did not know if there was a legal threshold. Fontaine interjected that the building would not substantially decrease in size if it were redesigned.
Puchalski said that substantial changes to the plans, including building the facility from wood instead of steel and rethinking the interior finishes, would be required for a redesign to generate lower bids. Sowa said more labor is required for wood construction than with steel, increasing labor costs.
Brennan said the project could be redesigned and face similar bids because of economic inflation and a rise in the cost of materials. Senior Center Building Committee member Jason Kahn agreed. “We’re only increasing town costs as we go forward,” he said. He also noted that the feasibility committee spent at least nine years refining the project to satisfy the town’s “wants and needs.”
Ducey and Farnsworth said the decision should not be made until after taxpayers had a chance for input. Goodrich agreed, “I will not exclude all the taxpayers in town,” she declared. For her part, Brennan stated that the town had had a chance for input and had repeatedly voted for the project.
Alternative
Pallotta introduced an “alternative.” He explained that, despite the total budget of $12.7 million, $2.3 million of that was for non-construction items, such as utility needs, information technology, furnishings, fixtures and equipment, including exercise room equipment and items for offices and activities.
In addition, because the plans for the facility were “value-engineered from day one,” as Fontaine put it, six items that had been desired, but not needed were ordered into an alternate wish list. This included a multipurpose room divider curtain, second-floor activities room divider curtain, solar light tubes in multipurpose room, projection screen, multipurpose room stage and a standby generator.
Pallotta said that by removing several of the non-construction components and the list of alternate features, it brought the gap to roughly $365,000. The funding for those items could then be sought at a future Town Meeting.
“There were always some things that would be excluded,” said Paula Dubord, director of elder affairs and member of the Senior Center Building Committee. She said the Friends of Wilbraham Seniors had already raised half of what would be needed for furnishings.
“That’s exactly how we built [Mile Tree Elementary School],” Bunnell said. The furnishings, fixtures and equipment were approved at a separate Town Meeting from the construction approval.
Goodrich motioned for the use of ARPA funding to cover the vastly reduced price tag of $385,000 to award the bid and submit all documentation and paperwork. The board unanimously approved it.
The Senior Center Building Committee will be meeting on Nov. 8 to hammer out the details and how to make the plans work with the situation as it stands. Fontaine said the goal of this meeting, largely, will be to have items ready to put back into the plans, should donations come in that would cover them.
“We will be working with the [Friends of Wilbraham Seniors] going forward on these items,” Fontaine added in an email to Reminder Publishing.