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Committee discusses irrigation options and parking drainage; construction update shows project moving forward
Summary
The committee debated irrigation approaches (municipal water, tie-in to park, or a well) and whether to fund drainage work at nearby ball-field parking from the police station budget; construction staff reported active progress on roofing, insulation and site work and said project contingency remains healthy.
At the Dec. 5 meeting the committee discussed several nonbuilding systems and site issues, including irrigation for landscaping, drainage and parking at the nearby ball fields, and the project construction schedule and budget.
Irrigation: staff outlined three options to provide irrigation water for the site: (1) tie into municipal water; (2) extend irrigation from the adjacent park; or (3) drill a well dedicated to irrigation. Meeting comments noted a well would require an initial capital outlay but could pay for itself if municipal water costs approached the cited town-comparison figure (staff referenced roughly $5,000 per year as an operational cost for irrigation). Committee members asked staff to obtain baseline pricing from irrigation contractors for both municipal tie-ins and a well so the committee could compare lifecycle costs before deciding. The group also discussed permitting and potential Natural Heritage/resource restrictions if a well were pursued; staff said they would investigate mitigation or permitting needs.
Drainage and parking at ball fields: committee members raised concerns about ongoing drainage that now affects the Police Station site because historical drainage previously flowed away from the new building area. Committee members discussed whether the police station project budget should cover drainage improvements to the ball-field parking area; no final funding decision was made, but one committee member said he would like to take a vote at the next meeting if staff can produce cost estimates.
Construction and budget update: project staff and contractors reported steady progress. Construction milestones reported by the project representative included near completion of CMU for the south area, roof trusses and plywood installed, roofers installing asphalt shingles, binder coat for paving placed, catch basins and drainage completed, and insulated metal panels largely installed. The project team said much of the underground utility work is complete, propane tanks are installed and that the project is “right in line” for schedule after having worked some weekends and added carpentry resources. Staff reported the project has roughly $1,400,000 remaining in contingency lines and remains in overall good budgetary shape; the small Change Order 4 ($284.54) slightly reduced that contingency.
Other items: the committee placed an order for furniture and high-density storage from W. B. Mason to avoid an industry price increase; the radio equipment bid package is being prepared with DPW and fire department inputs and is expected to go out after the new year. The committee scheduled its next meeting for Jan. 9, 2019.
