Avon committee reviews $66.4 million estimate for three‑station program, orders value‑engineering and council update

On Oct. 17, 2024, the Avon Volunteer Fire Department Building Committee reviewed detailed cost estimates for a package of renovation, expansion and new construction projects affecting three fire stations that together carry a conceptual price tag of $66,413,000 if built simultaneously.

Chairperson James Speich opened the committee meeting at 7:01 p.m. and heard a slide presentation from the project architects summarizing a 75‑page estimate package and a two‑page cost summary. The architects presented conceptual opinion of probable cost figures for individual stations: Company 1 at roughly $25.7–$25.98 million, Company 3 at about $29.19–$29.57 million, and Company 4 at $10.87 million, and identified alternates and deducts that could lower portions of the program.

The committee heard that the estimating firm, Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), develops estimates from designer quantity take‑offs, local wage rates and historical pricing using its proprietary software ROSS 5D rather than RSMeans or Gordian. The architects said their figures do not assume any grant offsets; the estimates reflect current material and labor pricing for the presented scope.

Committee members and presenters discussed key cost drivers. The architects emphasized that emergency‑response facilities face stricter building‑code requirements (Risk Category IV), specialized technology and program needs, and that square footage remains the single largest driver of total cost. They showed 2011 and escalated 2026 comparisons to illustrate how scope and prevailing wage assumptions change cost per square foot.

The presentation listed potential alternates and savings—including an additional stair tower at Company 1 ($608,000 added cost) and door‑type changes and sewer‑vs‑septic connections with net deducts—and showed a deducts subtotal of about $659,000 and a total listed savings of about $1,650,000 if all proposed deducts were accepted. The slides also outlined a prioritization and reallocation exercise that, in one scenario, reduced the combined program cost by $6,584,000; a sequential phasing scenario produced adjusted savings of about $5,286,000 with an assumed construction start in June 2027.

The committee discussed a recommended order of work: build a new Company 3, renovate Company 4, then renovate Company 1. Presenters noted detailed program breakdowns (apparatus bays, living quarters, administration, public spaces) were provided in handouts for each company and for the department as a whole.

Grace Tiezzi, Avon assistant town manager, said she, Fire Marshal/Volunteer Fire Chief Bruce Appell and Chairperson Speich would prepare a consumable set of responses to Town Council questions for the council’s Dec. 5 meeting. Tiezzi also said the town would seek a proposal from Techton to review existing space programming and run value‑prioritization exercises with the committee and the fire department; the committee plans to meet again in January 2025 after the council update.

As routine business, the committee approved the Aug. 14, 2024 meeting minutes on a motion by Gina Kline, seconded by Mark Massaro (Raz Alexe recorded an abstention). The committee adjourned at 8:26 p.m. on a motion by Raz Alexe, seconded by Mark Massaro.

Next procedural steps: staff will prepare the council packet for Dec. 5, solicit Techton’s proposal for a space‑program/value engineering review, and return to the building committee in January 2025 with updated options and reallocation results.