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Council names Alborg Construction as library construction manager at risk; public raises funding, access concerns
Summary
The council approved Alborg Construction Corporation as construction manager at risk for the overhaul of the library at 110 Enterprise Center. Councilors and the public questioned reimbursement and the building’s planned town office space; officials said final funding and reimbursement schedules will be provided before full contract execution.
The Town of Middletown Town Council on Oct. 6 approved Alborg Construction Corporation as the construction manager at risk (CMAR) for the planned renovation of the library at 110 Enterprise Center.
Town project representatives presented a concept budget and schedule and said demolition work will begin selectively this fall with the main construction push planned for December–January and a ribbon cutting no later than August of next year. Glenn Alborg, vice president of Alborg Construction Corporation, told the council: "We feel very comfortable with that budget, working closely with your architect and engineers, to bring it in on budget and on schedule." The council approved the resolution by voice vote.
Project staff and the town’s project manager said they had developed a control or concept budget with a total in the low-$6 million range; during discussion two figures were cited in the meeting record ($6,317,211 and $6,255,003.71). Jay Edwards of Downs Construction said the budget in the council packet will be used as the control budget and that the project team will pursue value engineering or design adjustments if costs rise.
Public comment at the same meeting raised questions about the town’s intended use of space in the acquired building and the proposed funding method. Resident Wendy Reel said the town plans to allocate a floor for office space and use an $11.4 million moral-obligation bond to fund the retrofit; she urged that voters be given the opportunity to consider a bond of that size. Town staff responded that the project will seek state reimbursement for the library portion and that the town share (including roughly 10% of building area planned for town use) is expected to be excluded from state reimbursement calculations. Staff said they will circulate a preliminary reimbursement schedule to the council.
The council asked the town attorney and project team to finalize the CMAR agreement and to return the final contract and a detailed funding/reimbursement schedule to the council for review before further steps.
A wall-breaking ceremony for the new library was announced for Oct. 27.
