HADLEY — A mandate to scale back the size of the new $7.1 million senior center and delays in site plan approval are forcing the town to spend in excess of $140,000 more on the project.
But even though the Select Board has approved revised contracts that combined will pay owner’s project manager Colliers International of Agawam and designer EDM of Farmington, Connecticut, $142,660 that was not previously anticipated, Town Administrator David Nixon told board members Wednesday, Oct. 3, that the project is not going over the cost approved by voters in fall 2017.
“The money is within your budget,” Nixon said.
The Select Board voted unanimously to extend Colliers’ contract from December 2018 to April 2020 and to provide Colliers an additional $105,360, on top of the original $138,300.
Ken Guyette, director of project management for Colliers, informed the Select Board in a letter that continuing its work for Hadley was beyond the company’s control and due to a delay in the project timeline.
“In order to continue to effectively oversee these critical phases, we anticipate expending an additional 16 months based on our revised schedule, continuing at a rate of $6,585 per month for a total additional services request of $105,360,” Guyette wrote.
The Select Board recently ordered that the proposed senior center shrink by 1,700 square feet, from 12,050 square feet to 10,350 square feet, so it and the neighboring library project can meet the town’s bylaw requiring parking be twice the area of the buildings. After several Planning Board hearings, it remained uncertain that the planners would approve a plan that wasn’t compliant with town zoning.
The Select Board earlier agreed to pay EDM up to $37,300 to work on the reduced-size building. EDM’s initial contract, which yielded two designs for the building, had previously ended.
Whether there will be additional costs, or potential savings, related to the senior center and library projects in the future remains unknown.
Select Board member Molly Keegan said the Municipal Buildings Committee is discussing a game plan for relocating the senior center, the Planning Board and Hadley Media from the Hooker School Building, which has to be demolished to make way for the new library.
One idea town officials are considering is razing that building before the new senior center opens and having the two municipal projects going on at once, which could save time and money, even if space needs to be found elsewhere to house the three departments on a temporary basis.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
