Town Hall Bids Appear ‘Substantially’ Under Budget

By John Voket

At the September 3 Legislative Council meeting, Town Finance Director Robert Tait joked that bids to create a municipal office center at Fairfield Hills came in so low, “we have enough to build two town halls!”

While Mr Tait’s comment was designed to lighten the mood, officials learning about the project were more than pleased.

“This is a reason to celebrate,” said council Finance Committee Chair Joseph DiCandido.

While final “soft cost” figures are still being refined, it appears low bidders on work to convert Bridgeport Hall into new municipal offices have brought the project in under budget to the extent that a full roof replacement will likely be included.

The replacement was built into the overall bid package as an alternate, but Mr Tait believes construction bids for all necessary phases of the renovation came in so far under budget that there will be enough money left over to complete the roof.

It only took a few minutes to reach preliminary calculations following a bid opening meeting Friday, August 29. And the news that staff would soon be relocating into new, state-of-the-art space was well-received by town officials and employees who were on hand, including First Selectman Joe Borst, Public Works Director Fred Hurley, Human Resources Director Carole Ross, and Assessor Christopher Kelsey.

“I’m pleased it came in under budget,” Mr Borst said of the decades-old structure. “I advocated replacing the roof. I would hate to get all the internal work done and get people moved in and then find out we have to replace it.”

While project mangers at O&G Industries are still a few days away from delivering final calculations, initial factoring of major construction components and soft costs, plus a new roof, will still provide in excess of a $200,000 cushion, Mr Tait said.

The outcome of the $10.5 million town hall project stands in stark contrast to the local high school renovation, which is currently more than $6 million over budget. The school board unanimously voted August 28 to request an additional appropriation that could go to referendum by early October if it clears the Boards of Finance and Selectmen as well as the Legislative Council.

Mr Hurley noted that the two high-profile municipal projects were starkly different in scope, because the high school project budget was largely contingent on rapidly escalating materials, including steel and petroleum-based products such as asphalt and flooring.

“The town hall is a labor-intensive project, but we’re not going to be using a heck of a lot of materials,” Mr Hurley said, adding that work may begin on the Bridgeport Hall renovation before winter.

Democratic Selectman Herb Rosenthal, who as first selectman worked closely in the preliminary phases of the town hall renovation, attributed the cost savings to appropriate handling in the preconstruction phases.

“This is the kind of result you get when you stay on top of a project,” Mr Rosenthal said following the bid openings. “When you give contractors and architects the budget, and tell them to deliver a project, they are the ones who have to bring it in at the right number, or they have to explain why it can’t be done.”

Republican Selectman Paul Mangiafico said he has no reason to suspect the Bridgeport Hall bids will not bear out to be “substantially below” budget.

“This is phenomenal good news,” he said.

Mr Mangiafico was concerned, however, at the disparity between the town hall and high school projects.

“We’ve got town hall bids significantly under budget, and the high school bids significantly over budget,” the selectman observed. “It raises questions about how that project was put out to bid, especially after two separate consultants came forward with anticipated costs.”