|
On November 18th, 2004 the Town Board presented the scope of the highway garage project to the citizens and the related projected cost. The Town engineer Jeff Budrow did most of the presentation. He said that night, and the supervisor and the Board agreed with his projections, that the town should budget 1.85 million dollars for the project. Specifically 1.6 million for construction, site prep, demolition, and to cover all change orders plus $250,000 for engineering. I have some background managing large construction projects and was skeptical of the estimate. I asked many questions regarding if the estimate included site prep, demo of old garage, increase in construction materials, and change orders. Jeff said his estimates included all that. I really doubted his numbers and I recommend to the Board that they budget at least $2,225,000 and if they were smart, budget at least $2.5Million. They dismissed the recommendation as usually. Later when bids came in the following year the construction bid alone came in at $2,460,000. That cost didn’t include engineering, site prep, etc.
On October 3, 2006 The Independent newspaper reported that the garage construction costs were at 2.5 million and it’s estimated it will cost another 100K to take down the old garage. These costs do not include site preparation, paving, and all the costs for all the change orders like power for the stove the engineer forgot. When all is said and done we taxpayers are going to pay around $3 million dollars (before interest on the bonds) which is 1.2 million over what the supervisor and Board budgeted. That is over 60% higher then what was originally presented to the public. I think the supervisor needs to explain how exactly this equates to her statement “she managed the construction of a new Highway Garage, with the building completed under budget.”
The highway tax rate has gone up 47% since 2004 (through 2007). Haven’t seen how much the first draft proposals increase is suggested for 2008.
Source of the above are my notes on the meeting agenda when I attended the 11/18/04 meeting and the Independent newspaper (10/3/06) addition. I’m sure the Town Clerks notes and tapes of that meeting are long gone by now…..
|
