West Tisbury hires town hall project manager

By Susan Vaughn - July 26, 2007

The West Tisbury selectmen last week approved a request from the town hall renovations committee to hire a project manager.

The selectmen approved the committee's choice of Jamie Doyle of West Tisbury for 250 hours, at $100 an hour, to advise the committee while it prepares design and construction plans to present at next spring's town meeting. Mr. Doyle, an engineer and independent contractor, will advise the committee on its selection of an architect and contractor and assist the committee in reviewing construction documents, according to committee chairman Bea Phear.

Ms. Phear said the committee chose Mr. Doyle over several other candidates, not only because of his "good knowledge of the Island and West Tisbury," but because of his familiarity with state regulations from working off-Island on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority projects. Mr. Doyle plans to return to his home in Hidden Village to serve as the project manager, she said.

"He becomes sort of a helper and agent" who will advise the committee on various facets of the preliminary project planning, Ms. Phear said in a phone interview Monday. The project manager position is required by state law for large municipal construction projects, she said.

The preliminary work is the first part of a two-phase piece of the town hall project, Ms. Phear said. "We don't know if it will pass town meeting. The goal is to come with a construction bid."

If the first phase is approved at town meeting, the town will then bond money to pay for the entire project, which has been estimated at between $4.9 million and $5.2 million. The town meeting in April approved the space needs committee's recommendation to renovate the present town hall instead of building a new one. The voters also approved a $150,000 allocation for architectural and engineering planning fees, which includes the project manager.

The town hall renovations committee has been meeting weekly since it was appointed in the spring. It has written the request for qualifications for architects, which are due back from architects on Aug. 7. The committee will interview architects by the end of August and choose one to start on the design work in September, Ms. Phear said. The committee plans to put out the requests for construction bids before the town meeting.

"We're working on a tight schedule," Ms. Phear said, "We'll know exactly what the plan is" before town meeting. If the project comes in over cost, the committee will have time to cut out some facets of it before the town meeting.

Mr. Doyle also will help bring the committee up to speed on the various town hall design plans that have been offered.

Kent Healy is vice chairman of the committee, which meets Tuesdays at 4:30 pm in the town hall.