It was not just the heat that had several people hot under the collar at the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night. The town’s yet unfinished emergency services facility (ESF) was a major bone of contention.
Although the new ESF is essentially complete, the town has not signed off on the project because of outstanding construction issues that must be resolved through negotiations with Seaver Construction.
Seaver was awarded a $5.52 million contract in February 2010 to build the approximately 18,500-square-foot ESF on West Spring Street across from Tisbury School. The project’s contract completion date was June 4, 2011.
ESF building committee chairman Joe Tierney reported that last week a new subcontractor replaced shingles on the building’s front, a task that had been on the punch list for months. He said he is still waiting for test results on the quality of the parking lot’s asphalt, prepared by White Brothers-Lynch Corporation. Mr. Tierney said the roofing subcontractor must remedy the remaining roof punch list items because a warranty is involved.
“I hear you, but at a certain point we’ve got to fish,” selectman chairman Tristan Israel said. He suggested that the town hire its own subcontractors, get the work done, and charge the expense back to Seaver.
Town administrator John Bugbee said he would look into a provision in the contract with Seaver that allows the town to do that, provided it would not jeopardize any remaining work or warranties.
Mr. Tierney said he would meet with Mr. Bugbee as well. “I’m just as frustrated as anybody else,” he told Mr. Israel.
Leah and Clifford Dorr, who live next door to the new ESF, also shared their frustrations over promised landscaping that has not been provided to screen the building from their house. They offered to do plantings themselves, if the town would pay for plants and materials, which Ms. Dorr estimated would cost $6,000. The selectmen apologized to the Dorrs for their troubles and said they would get back to them in a few weeks with an answer on their proposal.
