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Belmont seeks engineering oversight for Route 140 WRBP task order; board approves $10,000 retention
Summary
Selectmen reviewed a Route 140 task order and raised concerns about language that prevents town review until 90% design. The board voted to retain retained engineer Underwood for kickoff and 30/60/90 review points, approving a proposed $10,000 advisory contract to preserve the town's input during the design-bid process.
Staff member (S1) told the board the design task order for the Route 140 WRBP project contained a clause that would prevent meaningful town review until the design reached 90 percent completion. That language raised concern among selectmen and the advisory board and prompted a recommendation to require 30/60/90 review milestones.
"If I'm looking at this, they're saying that nobody can look at their design until it's 90%..." a selectman said, noting the town historically asks for 30/60/90 checkpoints.
Underwood, the town's retained engineering advisor for the project, will be asked to provide advice and attend kickoff and design-review meetings to ensure the town's voice is represented during design and task-order reviews. The board discussed retaining Underwood for a small advisory contract (S1 suggested $10,000) to attend kickoff, review task orders and offer timely comments.
A motion to retain Underwood for kickoff and design-review oversight passed by voice vote. Board members said the $10,000 advisory contract on a project with multi-million-dollar construction phases was a reasonable expense to avoid being locked out of critical design decisions and to mitigate the risk of large future cost overruns.
Members emphasized that the retention covered design-phase advisory services, not construction inspection or on-site engineering, and asked staff to request a written scope from Underwood specifying deliverables and the 30/60/90 review schedule.
