Officials Keeping BHS Project on Budget
By David Huck | Correspondent at December 19, 2023 | 9:15 am | Print
Town officials say they are keeping a close eye on the work being done at Berlin High School to ensure that the project is finished within its budget.
Town Engineer Arthur Simonian and Tom Smith from Gilbane Construction updated the Town Council on Tuesday, Dec. 16 about the work done so far at the high school.
The renovated high school is expected to open in the later summer or fall of 2016 and is expected to cost more than $80 million.
As of Nov. 30, $2.3 million remained in contingency funding for the town, $1.3 million remained in a contingency account that’s held by the construction manager, while another $2.4 million remains in uncommitted allowances for use in trade contracts. That’s $6 million.
As a comparison, when the project started, the three contingencies totaled $10.4 million.
“We are tracking that pretty closely, not only though the Public Building Commission but Tom and I are meeting weekly,” Simonian said. “We knew the first phase was probably the most difficult due to the amount of work that was done.”
He added later: “We will keep on top of it to ensure we are under budget.”
While renovations are now in phase two of the three phase project, Smith said that workers “are still cleaning up a few punch list items” that are remaining from earlier work. Some of the items were issues raised by teachers, he said.
Smith described some notable recent issues with the renovations, include a “minor” roof leak in the gymnasium, which was put back in use on Nov. 24 in time for the winter sport season. Smith said that the issue has been resolved and that the gym floor was dried out and is now in “good shape.” The cause of the leak was due to a storm of rain and snow that led to issues between and old roof and a temporary roof, Smith said.
Another leak was found in an English classroom that was previously space used for shop classes and which had concrete construction. Smith said that they found a leak around a seam in one of the mechanical units. He said pinpointing the ordeal presented some challenges due to the lack of rain during the fall, but with a recent spat of heavy rain, no leaks have been found following some fixes.
The majority of the work taking place now revolves around the three-story media center at the front of the high school along with renovations to the southwest corner of the school near the greenhouse courtyard where a new science wing is being added.
While windows “ran a little late” in arriving, framing and utility work continued right along, Smith said. Dry wall is in, floors are being prepped, and painting has started on some walls, he added.
The next time a portion of the school is turned over the students will be over the April break, when the new science wing is finished.
On the last day of school in June, workers will begin the final stage of the project. Smith said he has initiated a conversation with school officials to see if the Board of Education will possibly allow students to return to school a week later than normal as the work taking place over the summer—the demolition and construction of a new auditorium—is extensive.
Officials also said that they have improved their communications with school staff. Some teachers had complained about construction noise and other issues and felt like they weren’t given enough notice to prepare alternate plans for the inconveniences.
“I think we have made some positive changes in how we are reporting information,” Simonian said.
Smith said that “communication was going on before” but that there was “filtering” going on. “It is working better,” he said.
Mayor Rachel J. Rochette, a Democrat, acknowledged that communication has improved and said she wants to see that continue throughout the remainder of the project.
Simonian said that Smith and him now meet weekly to review change orders in order to streamline the process, a review that often takes more than an hour during Public Building Commission meetings. Simonian said that he is meeting with Smith from three to four hours a week to make sure that “anything that is and can be challenged is” done so before going before the commission.
Both Simonian and Smith said that they now have a better understanding of what to expect during the final phases of the project and aren’t anticipating any major hurdles.
During the first several phases of the project, the high school gained 18 new classrooms, but 12 has to subsequently be taken out of use due to a shift in construction, netting six new available spaces.
Council member Brenden T. Luddy, a Republican, said it seems like “we’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month” on extra contingency items.
Saying that he wasn’t going to “sugar coat” the situation involving the “large change orders” that have occurred in recent months, Smith said that going forward he wasn’t expecting them to be as substantial.
