At their March 24 meeting, the selectmen voted to award the contract for renovating Town Hall to low bidder G.V.W. Inc. of East Boston. That decision followed a unanimous decision earlier in the day by the Town Hall Construction Committee (THCC) to recommend the contractor despite mixed reviews of the company’s performance that had been uncovered by LLB Architects, the town’s architect, in the course of its reference checks.
The committee concluded that those concerns could be addressed with input into the selection of the site supervisor for the project and by additional monitoring during the project. The selectmen agreed and voted 4–0 (Selectman Leo Blair was absent) to approve G.V.W. The bid fits within the town’s original $3.97 million budget for the project and allows both add alternates—new windows and the cupola—to be included in the budget.
Architect says reviews were mixed
After the general contractor bids were opened on March 17, LLB checked the references and reviewed the certification files of the three lowest bidders. The certification files belong to the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and contain detailed project information as well as project scores assigned by DCAMM. LLB’s inspection of G.V.W.’s certification file showed mostly passing projects but also some failed projects. Documentation of the projects mentioned issues with communication, supervision, and quality of work. Calls to references also resulted in a mixed bag, but according to LLB, most of the negative references involved a specific type of work or specific site superintendents. A reference for one of G.V.W.’s current jobs, renovating the historic Town Hall in Tewksbury, was very positive.
Committee recommends
more hours for clerk of the works
To address the concerns raised by the reference checks and certification files, the town will ask for the right to approve the construction project manager and site supervisor. LLB architect Drayton Fair pointed out that the town would also have the right to change staff if it didn’t like working with them. In addition, to increase monitoring of the contractor, more hours will be budgeted for the clerk of the works. The person in this position, required by state law for public building projects, is on the job site regularly to make sure that the work is carried out to the town’s specifications and schedule. The THCC increased the clerk’s hours from 15 to 24, despite recommendations from both Fair and project manager Steve Kirby for a full-time clerk, as most public building projects have. But a full-time clerk would have increased the cost of the project by $104,000, an amount that THCC Chairman Rick Maiore called “too rich.”
What happens next?
The next step is for LLB to prepare a “notice to proceed,” which means that the town has accepted the bid. Town Hall will be closed the entire week of April 13 for packing and moving to its temporary office space in the old library. An auction will be held on April 18 to sell items that won’t be moving back into the renovated building, and on April 21, the building will be turned over to construction.
