Building committee adds two members, approves change orders and sets contingent payment for Fontaine

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District building committee on March 1 voted to add Dr. John Marcus and Matthew (Matt) Wells to the district's building committee and approved two Fontaine construction change orders, while making Fontaine payments contingent on available town funds and pending MSBA reimbursements.

Committee members moved to replace Jeff Simonak and Stephen Marshall on the building committee with Dr. John Marcus and Matt Wells; the motion was seconded and then approved by roll call, after which the chair announced, "Now you are members." The change was recorded and staff said they would update documents submitted to the MSBA.

The committee then considered financial commitments. Project staff presented Fontaine construction change order number 3 for $123,902.59 and change order number 4 for $35,145.72 and recommended recording those amounts in the budget. The committee voted to commit those amounts for payment.

A larger Fontaine requisition was flagged for a calculation error in the January invoice. Staff proposed a not-to-exceed payment so contractor cash flow could continue while final numbers were reconciled. Project manager Justin Ferdenzi outlined the issue and proposed a not-to-exceed figure; business manager Matt Wells told the committee the project account held "just under $7,000,000" with "roughly around $3,000,000 of funds still remaining within that account" after recent payments, and that MSBA reimbursements were delayed by administrative auditing steps.

After discussion the committee approved a not-to-exceed Fontaine payment of $3,550,076 as a contingent authorization to enable the contractor to be paid when funds are available, with the chair and staff noting the payments would be released only when cash on hand and MSBA timing permitted. The committee recorded that earlier smaller invoices (Tri Cafe, Evite/GoDaddy and newspaper ads) had already been paid by the district and acknowledged them for project accounting and potential MSBA reimbursement.

Why it matters: The votes clear personnel and near-term payment hurdles so that construction work can continue while the district and MSBA reconcile invoices and reimbursements. The not-to-exceed authorization is explicitly contingent on the town having funds on hand and on MSBA reimbursement timing; the committee emphasized this contingency during the vote.

What’s next: Staff said they would send updated OPM certification letters and invoice certifications to the town to trigger MSBA reimbursement procedures, and that some payments would be released once those funds were received and verified.