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Unforeseen conditions swell South Berwick town hall renovation costs; contingencies shrinking
Summary
Consultants and the contractor told the council that hazardous materials, demolition surprises and subsurface fill have driven change orders on the town hall renovation. Owners’ and contractor contingencies started near $1.4 million and staff reported a remaining cushion of roughly $947,000 while cautioning substantial demolition remains.
Residents and consultants told the Town Council that the South Berwick town hall renovation has encountered multiple unforeseen conditions, and the project team outlined how contingency funds are being used to respond.
Andy Jackson of Dovetail Consulting told the council the renovation has revealed hazardous materials, unexpected demolition issues and fill problems beneath basement slabs. "We're not even close" to being out of the woods, Jackson said, warning that more demolition ahead often produces additional costs. He said Charter Brothers, the contractor, is holding about $660,000 in contingency while the town established an owner contingency of about $750,000.
Jackson and staff explained they are producing weekly reports showing draws against allowances and contingencies, and they provided an accounting framework that separates funding buckets (bond proceeds, undesignated funds, grants and interest) and tracks commitments and forecasted encumbrances. One speaker summarized the position this way: combined owner and contractor contingencies initially totaled about $1.4 million and "as far as we can tell, there's still about $947,000 of cushion to protect the team" through the rest of demolition and the unforeseen work, while acknowledging that additional costs remain possible.
The consulting team said they are reviewing every change order and that if costs exceed available funding the council would have options including deferring scope or pausing the work. "If we aren't able to complete the project with the allocated funding... we can always tell Charter Brothers to pack up their tools and go home and the project will come in on budget. It just won't meet all the goals that the town wants it to," Jackson said.
Councilors asked for monthly budget reporting and clearer tracking of contingency draws; Jackson said such reports are being produced and shared in the project folder. The council did not take a formal action to change project scope during the meeting.
