Council approves proprietary specifications for Parker Annex upgrades, citing consistency with city buildings

The Watertown City Council on Jan. 28 approved the city manager’s request to authorize proprietary specifications for certain materials and hardware in the Parker Annex second-floor renovation, the manager said.

City Manager explained the work at the Parker Annex is part of a broader capital plan to relocate planning department staff and to perform code and accessibility upgrades. As a result, the administration retained AI3 as the on-call architect to prepare bid specifications. The manager said state procurement law (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 30, §39M(b)) requires the council to approve proprietary specifications when used and to document reasons in writing.

The administration asked the council to permit proprietary specifications for door locks and door hardware — described in the staff memo as "sergeant locks and medical high security SFIC keying" to maintain consistency with other city buildings and schools — and for ceramic wall tile identified as the "DalTite color wheel product line" to avoid a patchwork of mismatched tile where existing walls are disturbed.

Councilor Gardner supported consistency and asked whether automatic door openers would be included; the manager said entrances and hardware will be reviewed for code compliance and that rear entrance automatic doors for the ADA ramp had been confirmed in prior discussions. Councilor Piccirrelli (sic in transcript) and the manager noted the school department had authorized similar specifications for school buildings.

Formal action: a motion to approve proprietary specifications was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote ("Aye").

The manager said the project will proceed to bid with the proprietary items documented and that an owner’s project manager will be engaged for construction oversight. The council did not change the specific proprietary product names at the meeting.