The Rutland Regional Planning Commission approved a budget adjustment of up to $300,000 to move forward with the Fairhaven Village Green stormwater implementation project after members were told contractor bids came in higher than the original engineer’s estimate.

Hillary (Staff member) said the project is scheduled for installation in July and August and that the commission needed authority now because it will not meet again before construction begins. She introduced Ryan Davenport of Davenport Excavation, the low bidder who provided a detailed line‑item proposal. "We put it out to bid. And the bids came back fairly similar, but higher than the cost proposal," Hillary said.

Ryan Davenport, owner of Davenport Excavation, told commissioners the higher price reflects construction options the town is considering for the stormwater crossing on Route 22A in front of the town office. He described three crossing methods: directional drilling, open cut, and installing a steel sleeve. He said directional drilling can produce dips and sags in an 8‑inch pipe and still requires opening a section of road to guide and pull the stiff pipe; open cut provides the most accurate pipe alignment but disturbs the road; the steel sleeve allows sliding the pipe through with more precise grade control but is roughly $25,000 more than the other options.

Davenport said, "To achieve a half percent on that 8 inch drilled pipe…you may have a couple sags and dives" and that the sleeve option would require about a 5‑by‑5 excavation at the manhole but would cost approximately $25,000 more than the base bid.

Commissioners discussed tradeoffs between road disturbance and cost. Mike Wenzo (Regional planning) noted that even the highest bid is below a local threshold set by the program and said he supported moving forward provided state staff confirmed the additional methodology is eligible. Several members said the town prefers minimal road disruption and that the higher budget would preserve all construction options while the town finalizes its preference.

The motion to approve the requested adjustment up to $300,000 as recommended by staff passed on a voice vote (no roll‑call tally provided in the transcript). The commission’s packet shows an existing signed operations and maintenance agreement with the town and an easement to place the treatment in the town park; Hillary said engineers expect the project to have an operational life of roughly 50 years with routine maintenance.

The commission also discussed contingency planning for projects that run over budget while construction is underway and asked staff to place that process on a future agenda.

The approval clears the way for Davenport Excavation to proceed with final pricing and mobilization while the town and contractor finalize the crossing method and minor scope details.