Select Board approves roughly $41,000 engineering amendment for sewer project

The Select Board on Sept. 3 voted unanimously to approve an engineering amendment tied to the town's sewer project to cover additional construction administration and on-site resident project representation. Town Administrator (speaker 1) told the board that Underwood Engineering is asking for an adjustment that “totals $40,950.”

Town Administrator (speaker 1) said the extra charges arose because the project required additional work — including a change from directional drilling to an open cut and added on-site engineering oversight — and because federal and state funding sources require extra documentation. “Underwood has done an extensive amount of extra work with this project,” the administrator said, and recommended funding the amendment from a split of contingency and the Sewer Capital Reserve. A motion to authorize the amendment and to allow the town administrator to execute related documents passed 4–0.

Board members asked for contract accountability: one member sought confirmation that Underwood had followed notification requirements in the original agreement and wanted clarity on which tasks were covered by the base $445,000 contract and which triggered the change order. The town administrator said the contract enumerates six categories of work and that change orders are permitted under time-and-material portions of the agreement. The board directed staff to track these extra costs in project accounting so the full project cost is documented when construction concludes.