The Board of Selectmen last week removed “contingency” dollars from a contract related to the Police Department building renovation—a change that the town’s highest elected official said she favors for certain kinds of work.
The selectmen ultimately voted 3-0 in favor of the $58,650 contract extension with Jacunski Humes Architects LLC to provide professional design services for furniture, fixtures and equipment or “FF&E” design work.
Yet the Board removed a $5,000 contingency that had been included in a request that town Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski brought forward for the project, which is being overseen by a volunteer committee.
Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll raised a flag during the March 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
“If this is a contract to evaluate furniture or other things, why do we have a contingency?” Murphy Carroll said. “Don’t we just have a contract to [say], ‘This is your job, to fit it out.’ And it drives me crazy when asked about the contingencies, but if this is like a professional service that we’re hiring for this phase, isn’t it inclusive?”
Zagarenski said “there might be a need” for contingency funds “if we ask them to do some of the high density storage equipment and those sort of things that are just on the fringe.”
“If you don’t want to put contingency into this, don’t put contingency in it,” he said.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson backed up Murphy Carroll.
“I’m not a fan of design fees having contingency,” Carlson said. “I think it keeps the contractors on target. They know what they have and they design. I think it’s a very valid point.”
She added, “I feel like we’re always getting the contingency build. And I just think we need to start a new process. I agree with you, Amy. I mean, I understand with development or digging, like any construction, we need contingency, but with … a design fee, I’ve never ever seen us need [it]… I think it’s important to tell our contractors [that] this is what they have.”
Zagarenski said that with the Humes contract, “I think we have enough time so that if there is anything that comes up, I’ll be able to come back to you. So I’m not overly concerned about the contingency on this one.”
The Board of Finance last fall also had flagged use of contingency money for the renovation project. The project includes a total interior renovation and expansion behind the 1927 building at 174 South Ave. The estimated $27.5 million project is expected to wrap up by Thanksgiving 2025, officials have said.
Carlson, Murphy Carroll and Selectman Steve Karl voted in favor of the Humes contract extension, without the $5,000 contingency.
Zagarenski said the Police Department Building Committee—of which Murphy Carroll had been a member, prior to her election to the Board of Selectmen—has about $600,000 budgeted for furniture. Under the contract, the Humes firm is expected to “bring the design team to work with the town to finalize all our furniture needs,” Zagarenski said.
“They will provide the PD with options and costs,” he said. “They’ll prepare bid packages for the furniture package. They will go out to bid on the project for the town, and they’ll assist with the procurement and the installation of the furniture.”
During the same meeting, the selectmen also approved an approximately $10,000 contract with a New Haven-based firm to evaluate possibly contaminated soils at the Police Department.
While removing the boiler room floor there, workers found “some discolored soil with a petroleum smell,” Zagarenski said.
“So Fuss & O’Neill will evaluate this unforeseen condition,” he said. “They’ll identify the limits of any potentially contaminated soil, test the soils for contaminants, and then make a plan for their removal and proper disposal. And the funds are available for this in the soft cost budget under the environmental consultant. So it’s one of those unexpected expected expenses.”