Chilmark’s select board has scheduled a special town meeting for March 26 at 1 pm at the Chilmark Community Center. The one article warrant asks for an additional $1.2 million for the new fire station and Tri-Town Ambulance headquarters, after bids came in higher than the $12.6 million authorized by voters for the buildings. The board voted unanimously on Thursday, Feb. 24, to approve the special town meeting, and continued discussion on it Tuesday.
On Feb. 24, select board member Bill Rossi said the $1.2 million increase was due to “what’s happening in our world and supply chain issues, construction prices going up and up.” Rossi went on to say, “You know, I daresay I’m pleased with only that amount of an increased price from our original estimates. We had estimates worked on through our architects. They hired estimating companies, and our OPM hired estimating companies.”
Rossi said the town was on a timetable, and needed to get a contract signed in an “expedient manner.”
Chairman James Malkin agreed: The town needed to proceed “expeditiously” before “prices go up further.”
It was made clear the extra funding needed to be voted in before the contract could be signed.
A representative of the contractor chosen by the town, J.K. Scanlon, wasn’t present at the meeting.
Select board member Warren Doty asked for a recap of what funding had been authorized to date.
Town administrator Tim Carroll said that altogether, the town has authorized $12.6 million for the project so far.
“I’m going to urge everybody to vote yes on this,” Doty said Tuesday. “It’s only a 10 percent increase, at a time increases are everywhere, and it’s a project that Bill [Rossi] has worked on and others have worked on for years and years, and we really want to make it happen. We’re very close. We have the contractor, who is J.K. Scanlon, we could sign the contract on the Monday after our town meeting on Saturday. I think it’s a fine thing to do, and I would urge everybody to vote yes.”
So, this overrun is 10 %. No big deal, gotta get it done. And when the cost overrun mounts to 35%, done and dusted (but not actually finished), it will all be just passed on to the taxpayers.
How about just try to be honest up front?
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