Commission approves contract expansion and adds 7.5% contingency for police department phase two

The Public Building Commission on an evening agenda approved expanding a design contract to include FFN/FF& scope for the police department renovation and added a 7.5% contingency to the general contract for phase two.

Staff told commissioners the letter of intent is signed and draft contracts and bond requests are circulating. The commission moved to “increase Tusky Hume’s contract with the addition of the scope for FFNA” (motion text used as read by a commissioner) and seconded the motion; commissioners then asked staff for the dollar reference for the added scope. Staff discussed the base bid and line-item estimates and noted the project budget was nearly exhausted if windows and environmental abatement were added to the current scope. The transcript records an amount for the overall bid package and a separate line referenced as 20,900 for an FFN component, but the commission did not read a final line‑item amendment on the record.

A separate motion added a 7.5% contingency to the general contract “designed to finish” the police department phase two work; that motion was moved, seconded and carried in the meeting. Commissioners discussed alternative approaches — keeping contingency at the commission level versus assigning a contract-specific contingency — and agreed they could draw on the overall project account for change orders, but nevertheless approved the 7.5% figure to give the contractor an initial contract contingency.

Staff said the commission’s action will be forwarded to town council for approval at its first July meeting; if council concurs, staff expects contractor mobilization in July and will share the schedule with the commission and the police department through Brian and the general contractor.

The meeting record shows verbal assent and some abstentions on pay applications elsewhere in the agenda, but the transcript does not include a line-by-line vote tally for the Tusky Hume amendment or the contingency motion. The commission’s apparent approval will be subject to council action, per staff.