Gardner secures one-year reimbursement extension for Rear Main project as design costs rise

Gardner City officials said Friday that the Massachusetts MassWorks grant program approved a one-year extension to reimburse expenses for the Rear Main project, moving the reimbursement deadline to June 30, 2026.

The extension matters because the city must submit eligible expenses to MassWorks in order to be reimbursed; without it, the project risked missing the prior fiscal-year cutoff. Director Stevens told the committee the city asked for “a full fiscal year extension… until June thirtieth of 2026,” and that the extra time provides flexibility for weather-dependent work such as colored concrete and loam-and-seed.

Stevens said the city is also seeking contract accounting changes to address substantial overspending on design and engineering. She told the committee the original design line item was $150,000 and she proposed adding another $150,000 to that line “so that we are within the bounds” required by the grant and reimbursement rules. Stevens said some funds already spent this year were paid with city funds and are not being submitted for immediate reimbursement; once the project returns to the original scope, those later eligible costs will be submitted to MassWorks for reimbursement.

On the ground, Stevens described immediate work including drainage installations, placement of the water-quality unit and removal and filling of below-grade obstructions. She said the engineering team at Fuss & O'Neil has mapped constraints under Derby Drive and that crews plan to begin removal work on June 30. Some later items — irrigation, landscaping and colored concrete — were listed in the preliminary schedule for warmer months and contributed to the request for the fiscal-year extension.

Stevens also said the city plans to reallocate money among site-work and contingency line items to cover increased construction administration and project management costs, including a separate $50,000 increase for construction administration. She emphasized that parts of the current year’s work were paid from city sources and therefore not immediately submitted for reimbursement, but that the MassWorks extension secures the city’s ability to recoup eligible future expenditures.

Committee members asked clarifying questions but took no formal vote on contract amendments at the meeting. Stevens said she expects the majority of construction to be complete by Dec. 31, 2025, but qualified that some tasks will extend into the next fiscal year because of seasonal constraints.