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Council approves submission of 60% school construction documents as consultants warn project is over target
Summary
After a long presentation, the council approved submitting 60% construction documents to RIDE and heard that the 60% cost estimate exceeded the project target; consultants outlined contingency and value-management strategies while councilors debated a $160 million budget target and reimbursement implications.
The East Greenwich Town Council voted 5-0 Aug. 12 to submit the 60% construction documents for the town's school projects to the Rhode Island Department of Education, a milestone consultants said is required before construction can begin.
Project consultants told council members the 60% construction-document estimate came in over the previously discussed target. Left Field and the construction manager presented a budget-management plan that includes $1,000,000 in identified value-management opportunities, a $3,000,000 design/pricing contingency, and an owner-held contingency of roughly $10,000,000. "The number we're targeting is 160,000,000," one consultant said, and the team outlined an alternate-delivery and buyout strategy to realize bid savings and move items such as Meadowbrook off to later ad alternates if necessary.
Councilors pressed for clarity on reimbursement rules: RIDE will fully reimburse an approved borrowing up to the established threshold and provide partial principal-only reimbursement above that amount, so amounts above the reimbursable ceiling could carry town-only costs. The council and school construction committee emphasized continued value engineering and that next steps include subcontractor buy-package awards at the Sept. 8 meeting; councilors repeatedly said they want concrete numbers before authorizing large commitments.
