Whitman-Hanson building committee approves MSBA funding amendment, shifts bid savings into contingency

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District building committee voted unanimously Sept. 23 to authorize district officials to execute an amendment to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Project Funding Agreement that reallocates bid savings into the project’s contingency.

The committee’s presenter said the amended agreement reduces the listed construction budget from the previously referenced roughly $135 million figure to $125,938,728 and raises the construction contingency to $10,752,000 from an original $5,000,000, saying most bid savings were moved into that contingency. "This document formally updates the funding agreement," the Presenter said, and pointed the committee to the amendment’s third page as showing the primary changes.

The vote follows an earlier committee decision on how to allocate bid savings; a committee member explained the Sept. 23 vote would not revisit that allocation decision but would authorize district officers (identified in the meeting as Jeff and other parties) to sign the MSBA paperwork to formalize the change. "You voted to take that action. The vote today would be to allow Jeff and parties to execute the new agreement, basically," the committee member said.

Chair opened the item by noting staff turnover in the district’s project office and that MSBA is processing a request to update the district’s pro-pay contact. The Chair said a payment request submitted in August remains pending until a material-installation clarification from Fontaine is supplied; the committee asked Justin to follow up with Fontaine and MSBA on the outstanding question.

Why it matters: moving bid savings into contingency increases funds available to address unforeseen construction items without reducing the scope of work. The Presenter said the amendment formalizes how the numbers "washed out" after bids and is consistent with the committee’s prior direction.

What the committee did: a committee member moved to approve the amended PFA and execute the package; the motion was seconded and the committee voted unanimously to permit execution of the updated MSBA funding agreement. The Chair closed the item after the vote.

Next steps: committee staff will follow up with MSBA and Fontaine on outstanding clarifications needed to release a pending August payment request and will execute the amended agreement once paperwork and pro-pay updates are complete.