Council hears town hall renovation update as construction manager reports $7.57 million draft estimate

Town Manager Tim presented an update Tuesday on the town hall renovation design and preliminary cost estimate, and Oak Point Associates architect Peter McGovern and Charter Brothers project manager Mike Bean answered council questions. McGovern said the project is moving from a 50% design toward a 95% set that will include detailed construction information. Mike Bean said Charter Brothers took the 50% drawings to market, contacted roughly 300 subcontractors and vendors, got engagement from about 200 and received about 106 bids for the estimate. Bean reported a draft construction cost of about $7,570,000 — roughly $1.1 million higher than an earlier Oak Point estimate — and described the figure as a conservative market-tested tally at the 50% stage. McGovern described only minor changes to the earlier concept plans: a vault and server-room swap to keep the server room accessible without entering secured clerk areas, separation of planning and assessing into two offices, and relocation of HR and finance across a corridor to free two offices for future use. Mike Bean said Charter Brothers and Oak Point will work with staff on value-engineering and line-item adjustments and that the team plans a series of meetings, beginning with a scheduled session with staff later in the week, to refine the estimate and the 95% construction documents. No formal council action was taken; staff said they will return with the 95% set and updated cost information.