Bethel voters to decide on police station overruns

BETHEL — The Board of Finance unanimously recommended Wednesday night that the town spend almost $889,000 to cover overruns in the police station project.

Voters will consider approving the funding needed to complete the station, which was originally budgeted at $13.5 million, at a special town meeting at a later date. Town officials said the funding must be approved before May 15, otherwise the project will fall behind schedule and staffing costs will increase.

The station went over budget in part because plumbing and HVAC work was more expensive than estimates. Members of the building committee and Downes Construction Co. said the estimates did not fully account for a tight construction market and the high quality of materials the town sought to ensure the station will last longer.

But Downes and building committee officials offered assurances that the station would not need more money after this request is granted.

“We are very confident with the number we put forth,” said Deno Gualtieri, a member of the Public Site and Building Committee.

The project is 70 percent complete and is expected to be finished by the end of July, and prices for nearly all the remaining work have been confirmed, officials said.

Downes promised it could complete construction for $12.4 million, and building committee members said other work would cost almost $2 million, for a total of almost $14.4 million.

Without the additional funding approved Wednesday, the firing range and landscaping would be left incomplete. Officers would also need to bring furniture from their existing station to the new one.

Some residents and finance board members were frustrated that no one has been held accountable for the mistakes that took the project over budget. Although officials had known for months the project was heading over budget, the building committee did not request more funding until mid-March.

Cynthia McCorkindale, a board of finance member, said residents should have known about the overruns sooner because that knowledge could have affected approval of the school renovations or the 2018-19 budget process.

“What makes me very uncomfortable is that no one is taking the reins,” she said.

Resident Bill Hillman called for First Selectman Knickerbocker to replace Jon Menti, chairman of the building committee.

Menti’s term is up in January 2020, but the Board of Selectmen can remove appointed members “for cause,” according to the town charter.

“A $1 million overrun, failure to tell the town months ago is cause to remove Mr. Menti as chair,” Hillman said.

Residents said they want town officials to ensure that errors like this would not happen again, especially on the renovation projects at Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools.

“You must demand full accountability,” resident Frank Mineo said. “It’s the only way to get the faith back.”

The town has hired an owner’s representative for the renovations to help the building committee. Members said an owner’s representative would likely have been unnecessary for the police station, but is critical for the larger, more complicated school renovations.

Some board members said they wish they could grant $1.5 million to cover the equipment in the firing range, a cost that was not in the budget voters approved in December 2015.

But members worried the town would not meet the May 15 deadline if voters rejected the higher request.

“It's just frustrating to me, because here is a project that should be done the right way, and it’s not going to be done the right way,” finance board member Bryan Terzian said. “We're going to risk that the firing range isn’t going to be done down the road.”

Police Chief Jeff Finch has said he plans to ask later for a special appropriation to outfit the firing range. This might cost $600,000, but officials said they do not have a firm cost yet.