Walpole School Building Committee approves $826,925.62 vendor invoice package; committee discusses change orders

The Walpole School Building Committee on June 17 approved the May vendor invoice package totaling $826,925.62, chairing a discussion about the number and cost of owner change orders on the Middle School project.

The vendor package includes a Fontaine requisition for $531,221; meeting materials show Fontaine is currently 98% complete on its contract work. Committee members identified that a large portion of recent invoices relate to a previously approved field change order and other field-related scopes.

Why it matters: approving these invoices moves the project closer to MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) closeout and final reimbursement steps, and committee members asked for clarity about which costs are owner responsibilities and which had been previously approved.

During debate, one committee member asked whether the change orders represented contractor errors or owner-directed scope additions. Griffin, a project representative, summarized the tally: “Yeah, I think it was 12 owner change orders.” Kate, project staff, said most of the dollar value is tied to the large field change order and that smaller invoices include paving and irrigation work overseen by the town’s DPW and parks departments. Kate added that the project team has an ongoing punch list and that there is not current evidence of work having to be redone for noncompliance beyond the remaining punch items.

Committee members also broke down the recent costs: materials presented at the meeting attribute roughly $135,000 to the paving scope for the fields that had been previously approved and about $17,000 to irrigation work, with the larger portion of dollar value applied to the field change order (previously identified in meeting materials as $2,100,000). Griffin said roughly $350,000 of a recent Fontaine invoice was applied to a field-related change order (identified in the meeting as change order 13).

A motion to approve the May vendor invoice package was made by Dr. Kenny and seconded by Mr. Seneck. The roll-call produced six yes votes and two abstentions; the motion carried. (See Actions for the full vote record.)

The committee also reviewed MSBA reimbursement mechanics: the MSBA holds the final 5% of reimbursement until project closeout, and the committee must ensure invoices are paid and final acceptance items are completed before the MSBA closeout clock can run. Kate said the team is aiming to complete outstanding work by September to enable an early fall Fontaine requisition and to start the MSBA closeout process.

Less critical details discussed included standard consultant invoices (Vertex and Tappe) and a small set of FF&E clean-up invoices. Committee members asked for continued transparency on which invoices are charged to previously approved change order encumbrances versus new owner costs.

The committee approved the vendor invoice package and will continue monitoring remaining closeout items, including landscape acceptance and final Fontaine requisitions.