Buildings and General Services outlines statewide facilities role, capital connections to House Corrections and Institutions

Montpelier — Wanda Manoli, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services, told the House Corrections and Institutions Committee on Wednesday that BGS handles a broad portfolio of facilities and services for state government and that members of the committee are the department’s committee of jurisdiction for policy or statutory changes.

Manoli told the committee that BGS now includes design and construction, operations and maintenance, planning and property management, the State Energy Office, purchasing and contracting, safety and security, government business services, fleet, mail and state surplus, and a state curator. “If you open up the umbrella, there’s a lot more under the umbrella than design and construction or property management,” she said.

The overview matters for the committee because many of the department’s responsibilities intersect with the capital bill and with bonded financing. Manoli emphasized that construction costs and materials lead times remain elevated, and she framed the committee’s upcoming capital conversations in that context.

BGS employs roughly 334 people, Manoli said, with the commissioner’s office staffed by four full-time employees and one assistant attorney general assigned to the office. Operations and maintenance, led by director John Bieber, accounts for 215 employees and is organized in regional districts that respond to building repairs, custodial needs and preventive maintenance. Manoli said about 70% of work orders were completed in the cited reporting period and preventive maintenance completion was roughly 50%.

Design and construction staff (identified in the session as Jo Aja) and the department’s project managers manage capital projects. Manoli said that in 2024 BGS identified 116 capital projects, completed 64 and spent about $33,000,000 of appropriated funds; she said those figures include major maintenance work. She also said project managers carry multiple projects and that staffing and vacancy levels affect throughput: the design and construction division has 23 positions with five vacancies noted in the presentation.

Planning and Property Management, led by Eric Pembroke, manages lease requests and inventory for state agencies. Manoli said Pembroke’s team manages 94 leases totaling about 866,000 square feet and that roughly 22–23% of the department’s total facility inventory is leased space. Manoli also said the State Energy Office (created through prior committee action in 2012–2013) has expanded grant activity; she cited grant rounds that awarded roughly $33 million (the transcript includes additional figures described as $35.9 million in grants in close succession).

The Office of Purchasing and Contracting handles procurement for state agencies beyond construction, Manoli said, including medical supplies and office needs; BGS reported 1,358 active contracts and nearly half of construction contracts went to Vermont vendors where possible. Government business services operate information centers on state highways, and the fleet program comprises 637 vehicles with recorded use data for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Bill McSallis, director of the Office of Safety and Security, described that office’s scope: emergency planning, the state alert system, continuity of operations, occupational health and safety and the badge program that began after 9/11. On the department’s workplace infant policy assessments, McSallis said BGS evaluates safety and emergency contingencies and “we really try to put some added value into that program to make people sure that people can bring their infants in the workplace and do it safer.” He clarified that BGS security staff are not sworn law-enforcement officers and that BGS partners with law enforcement when incidents require charges or sworn response.

David Sheets, the state curator, described the curator’s work conserving and interpreting artwork and the Statehouse as a functioning museum, and highlighted the school visitation and civic-education programs hosted at the Statehouse.

Manoli told members that operations and routine items (salaries, printing, mail, fleet operating costs) are paid from the general fund and that capital projects are funded with bonded dollars; she described the state’s capital process as long-term borrowing that can create 20-year repayment obligations and noted an existing annual debt-service line in the budget. She said more granular operating budget questions are typically addressed in the Appropriations Committee, while BGS will bring project detail to this committee when the capital bill is considered.

The committee did not take formal votes during the overview. Members asked clarifying questions about metrics and project status; Manoli said BGS captures standard performance metrics for appropriations presentations and that the department planned to provide more detailed reporting after the legislative session.

The committee scheduled follow-up work on BGS reports and capital items during subsequent sessions this week.