A trio of projects under the purview of Newtown’s Public Building & Site Commission (PBSC) is progressing as expected and on schedule according to Commission Chairman Robert Mitchell.

The new police headquarters remains on schedule and on or slightly under budget, Mitchell told The Newtown Bee, June 24. The engineering phase of an HVAC renovation at Hawley School, and the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial project are both formally in progress after requests for quotes were reviewed by town representatives.

Mitchell said Christopher Williams Architects LLC of New Haven has been selected as the project manager and architect of record for the Hawley project. BVH Integrated Services, PC will be involved with the project, as well, Mitchell said, providing mechanical engineering and related consulting.

The PBSC chairman said BVH not only tendered the lowest bid for their part of the work, but also included indoor air quality testing as part of the quote. A key goal of the long-awaited Hawley project is improving fresh air circulation to enhance year-round air quality in the Church Hill Road elementary school.

Mitchell said the only blip on the radar involves the need to either perform accurate air quality testing with the building fully occupied, or modified calculations will need to be made if the building is only partially occupied come late August.

“Either way, we’ll figure it out,” Mitchell said. “The bottom line is we got an expert architect and engineering firm who came in at the lowest cost and included the air quality testing, which was not included in the next lowest bid of the five that we reviewed.”

Regarding the Sandy Hook Memorial, Mitchell confirmed the project “is well into design.”

“They completed the site geo-tech and survey work, which is really important, so we have a good base of the existing site conditions,” he said.

While that surveying signaled minimal changes to the plan may be required, Mitchell said it would have little or no impact on the project budget or timeline.

“The project team is working on the water feature design and a model, as well as a second model that will complement a preferred planting list and plan based on the site conditions,” he said. “We also reviewed the RFQs for the pre-construction services of a construction manager.”

Mitchell said he is just waiting for First Selectman Dan Rosenthal’s guidance on whether the town will interview two or three firms that submitted quotes.

“We’re hitting all the milestones so far, and we should have that construction manager on board in a matter of weeks,” he added.

Police Project Update

As has been the case for months, updates about the new police headquarters project continue to remain positive with the news that two alternates — a solar-equipped canopy to protect cruisers from the weather and a secondary access road —that were originally withheld from the plan will now be completed, and at a reduced cost based on original projections.

This windfall came in part because of a decision to scrap plans to install an access road between the facility at 191 South Main Street and Ethan Allen Road and instead create an access road from the opposite end of the main building, out to Pecks Lane.

This decision gives police visitors and vehicles more options to enter and exit the new facility, and it puts the road through a much easier area of topography.

Mitchell explained that, where the path to Ethan Allen Road was rocky and would require demolition, the opposite was true for the alternate. And instead of hiring an outside engineering firm, the engineering and some of the site prep was done by Newtown Public Works staff, including Town Engineer Ron Bolmer.

Rosenthal said flexibility in the budget also permitted the construction of a solar-equipped carport that would shield up to eight patrol units under cover year-round.

“This will allow us to keep our service fleet protected and ready year round,” the first selectman said. “With the savings we were able to realize using town employees instead of outside contractors for most of the work, we basically got two alternates for the price of one, saving somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000. And we still have budgeting flexibility.”

“The new police headquarters is really moving along,” Mitchell added. “We are over 60 percent complete, and the dry weather has allowed more work to proceed on the site.”

The PBSC chairman said installation of aluminum exterior panels is proceeding “and will really change the look of the building.”

“The front entry is being finished, and interior finish work is moving quickly,” he said.