Skowhegan board approves ball-field change orders contingent on special meeting funding vote

Skowhegan Select Board members voted to approve multiple change orders for the town's athletic complex projects but made the approvals contingent on a vote at a special town meeting to transfer reserve funds.

The board approved two change orders for the Ball Field Compound (phase 1) totaling $40,186.50 (change orders nos. 8 and 13) and three change orders for phase 2 (nos. 10, 11 and 14) totaling $61,282. Board members said those expenditures are included in the transfer the town will consider at the special meeting on Article 2, and they only authorized spending if that article passes.

The contingency matters because the project has encountered unanticipated site work and infrastructure corrections from earlier construction phases. Steve Gavoni of Wentworth Partners and Associates, the clerk of works for the project, told the board that Wet Pond No. 2 had been constructed at roughly half the size required by earlier permits and that the town discovered additional uncompleted 2006 permit work that must be finished before further development. That led to the change orders for additional excavation, fence relocation, fence repairs and gate resetting around Little League fields.

Gavoni said the phase-1 change orders reflect work needed after the town's contractor found the detention pond built too small and several perimeter fences and gates in disrepair. He described change order 8 ('$19,377') as covering the larger perimeter and associated work around the wet pond; change order 13 ('$20,809.50') covers fence repairs, resetting posts in concrete and replacing corroded gate assemblies on Little League fields.

Change orders in phase 2 address a late-requested Maine Water meter/meter-station requirement (change order 10, $29,349), dugout pad concrete work (change order 11, $22,306) and additional temporary conduit runs for electric (change order 14, $9,627). Gavoni said Maine Water's meter-station requirement (a meter shelter, pad and thrust-block work) was not in the original contract and came after construction began.

Select Board member Ethan Horton moved to amend the board's approval of the phase-1 change orders to make the vote contingent on passage of Article 2 at the special meeting; the amendment passed, and the board then approved the change orders with that contingency. The board used the same contingency language when approving the phase-2 change orders.

Board members and project managers said the larger bond of available reserve funds provides a cushion so construction can continue while the town pursues a larger Community Development Section (CDS) grant and other funding streams.

The board also noted two additional anticipated items already reflected in the special-meeting figures: a finalized change order (no. 12) of roughly $44,000 for dugout/dugout-fence work and an estimated not-to-exceed $10,000 for electrical completion by the town's electrical contractor. Those two items were described as already included in the total amount the town will seek to reallocate at the meeting.

Board action leaves the change orders approved but not executable unless voters reauthorize transfers of existing reserves at the special town meeting.

The Select Board's approvals were made during its Aug. 12 meeting. The board said it will present Article 2 to voters at the special meeting the following day.

Votes at the meeting: the amendment to make phase-1 change orders contingent passed; the final motions approving both sets of change orders, with the contingency, passed 4-0.

The project team asked the public to attend the special meeting to learn detailed budgets and to see the plan for completing the athletic complex.