WHY DID BIDS ON MUNICIPAL ANNEX RENOVATIONS COME IN WAY OVER BUDGET?
- Mike Clifford
- Dec 8, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 4, 2020
The North Smithfield Municipal Building Review Task Force (MBRTF) hired an architect to develop plans and a bid specification book for renovation work at the Kendall Dean building and the Municipal Annex. Per the 2014 bond language, Kendall Dean was to become a shared facility housing town and school department offices. After renovations were completed at the Municipal Annex it was to house primarily the police department, providing it with more space than it currently has in the building. The architect was well aware that the cost of all renovations had to be completed for no more than $4.4 million. Assurances were made by the MBRTF and their architect, that the scope of work would fit the budget. The architect estimated the cost of renovations for the Kendall Dean building would be $3.5 million and proposed renovations at the Municipal Annex (Police Station) would be $900,000. When the bids were opened in September of last year the Kendall Dean renovation base bids came in within range of his estimate, but the base bids for work on the police station ranged from $2,403,682 to $2,770,000. When 4 bids on a $900,000 project come in between $2.4 million and $2.77 million it strongly suggests to me that one of two things happened; either: a) the architect made an unbelievably huge error, or b), the architect was directed to increase the scope of work called for in the bid specs to ensure the project came in ridiculously over-budget and the renovations would never get done. I’ve attached town documents which show the numbers I’ve just discussed.
If you recall, back in 2016 when the Public Buildings Improvement Committee (PBIC) was overseeing the projects and the first bids came in more modestly over-budget, they were quickly replaced with the MBRTF and the PBIC’s architect was fired. The PBIC wanted to re-bid the project immediately but weren’t allowed to present their plan to the newly elected council. This time around, even though the bids were far more outrageously over the budget than the PBIC’s were, not a peep was heard from any public official and some even continue to speak highly of the architect. Bids for the Municipal Annex/Police Station came in 266% to 300% times the estimated cost and none of our public officials seem to be interested in knowing what went wrong.
The obvious indifference exhibited by some officials makes one question if the architect got them the outcome they were looking for – a reason not to renovate the Annex for the police but instead a reason to propose borrowing another $6-8 million to build a new police station. Just what the town needs - more debt payments so fewer tax dollars will be available to cover operating costs! Let’s build a shiny new police station and have inadequate operating budgets for all other town departments while simultaneously ignoring the poor condition of our town roads and the $12 million dollar price tag required to fix them. I absolutely believe that’s exactly what some of the players involved in this latest fiasco wanted from the very beginning.
While the Kendall Dean renovations are nearing completion, no renovation work has taken place at the Municipal Annex because the MBRTF doesn’t have a scope of work that matches the available budget. I’m not at all surprised there’s been no attempt to re-bid the police station project. Why bother re-bidding now when the next step in the game plan is to receive a recommendation suggesting the town build a new police station rather than renovating the existing one? Undoubtedly, we’ll hear very shortly that’s the only responsible way to do it right, instead of working within the town’s means.
At the December 2, 2019 Town Council meeting I asked the council to hold a public hearing with the architect and have him explain the discrepancies in the bids versus his estimates and also answer questions from the public. There was no response to my request. I’m not interested in attending a one-sided dog and pony show where questions aren’t allowed. I’ve got a long list of questions that I’d like answers to and they don’t all relate to the Annex, many relate to the Kendall Dean project. If the architect made an error of this magnitude it’s my opinion the firm should be sued and if any town officials directed him to expand the scope of work so the bids came in over-budget, those individuals should do the decent thing and tender their resignations immediately.
Link to budget bid documents: http://bit.ly/33Ocxvb
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