Public safety committee recommends CG Schmidt as CMAR after mold remediation findings raise costs for Germantown fire station project

The Germantown Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to forward a positive recommendation to the village board to award construction-manager-at-risk services for the Station 2 remodel and expansion to CG Schmidt, after hearing new forensic findings that raised the scope and cost of mold remediation.

Chief Delane told the committee the project began as a space-and-remediation need and that staff presented a $6.5 million “shell” option that would address mechanical and environmental issues and provide eight bunk rooms. He emphasized the $6.5 million figure covers the building shell only and does not include the construction manager, architect fees or furnishings. “That $6.5 million gives us a shell,” he said, adding that additional work and future stations would change how the current building is used.

The meeting featured a detailed explanation of recent destructive testing by a forensic engineering team, which found porous hollow-brick walls and an unusual foam in the cavities. That testing led consultants to recommend constructing an inner-wall vapor barrier in the affected areas rather than simply filling voids. Chief Delane said repairing and remodeling the office area affected by ingress would cost about $2.5 million; other sections of the apparatus bays are less vulnerable because they are open and ventilated.

Staff also presented larger alternatives: a roughly $9 million five-year plan (adding deeper bays and dedicated fire-gear storage) and a roughly $13 million 15-year plan that would renovate the existing station, add four bays and include a second-floor living area. The chief said those larger options both increase long-term capacity and change remediation and layout decisions.

Resident Melanie Smith urged the committee during the public-comment period to pause and consider temporary housing and an independent project manager to avoid rushing into a delivery method that could lock the village into higher costs. "Before we start spending gobs of money on anything, we should really understand what the problems are," she told the panel, urging detailed cost comparisons and consideration of off-site temporary housing to speed construction and potentially reduce costs.

CG Schmidt’s project manager, Zach Singer, presented the company’s approach to working in occupied spaces, pre-construction cost control, and a two-year warranty (with a stated long-term commitment to correct construction defects). Singer described the firm’s open-book guaranteed-maximum-price (GMP) approach, use of local prequalified subcontractors, and regular cost-control logs to identify emerging risks and value-engineer options.

Trustees pressed CG Schmidt on experience with hazardous-material scenarios, change-order control, contingency sizing and whether off-site temporary housing would materially reduce schedule or cost. Singer said the firm routinely works in occupied facilities, conducts weekly or meeting-by-meeting cost updates, and uses a contingency that is larger in early design phases and declines as drawings are developed.

After extended discussion about oversight, borrowing capacity and whether to delay, the committee moved and approved a recommendation that the village board award CMAR services to CG Schmidt for the Station 2 remodel and expansion and authorized staff to include a 10% contingency allowance during scope development. The village board will receive the positive recommendation and make the final award and contract decisions.

Next steps include finalizing the CMAR scope and GMP negotiations with CG Schmidt, further cost refinement during pre-construction, and a scheduled June follow-up on larger building strategy and borrowing impacts.