Renovations Uncertain as Bids Come in... OVER BUDGET

This post relates to the article entitled “Future of Renovations Uncertain After project Bids Came in Over Budget” which appeared in 9/26/2018 edition of the Valley Breeze. Recently opened bids for the renovation of #Kendall Dean School and the Municipal #Annex came in significantly over #budget and #bond funds cannot cover the costs. What follows below is my opinion on the topic.

This project should be put on the back burner until we have a town #administrator, town #council and building #committee who are committed to honoring the wishes of the voters and will renovate facilities as promised in 2014. Voters were promised that Kendall Dean would be re-designed and renovated in order to accommodate ALL school administration offices and ALL town offices; that promise has been broken by our town leaders.

These new plans do not provide space for all school administration offices to be located within Kendall #Dean. The new architect has admitted that he never even attempted to design a building to accommodate all school department offices. He also acknowledged that he drafted conceptual plans for blowing out the back of Andrews School for use as a #School Administration Building. The School Committee Chair has stated there are no plans for school department employees to return to #Kendall Dean once construction is completed. Well over a year ago I predicted the final plans would not include space for all school department personnel and that prediction was correct.

Tactics of telling bold face lies, making false claims and reporting inaccurate facts and figures as political spin have been employed by so called town “leaders” over the last two years in an attempt to convince voters the approved renovations weren’t possible. They absolutely were possible in 2016 and renovations would probably have been completed by now if the current Town #Council had allowed the former building committee (#PBIC) to simply re-bid the project after removing non- essential features from the bid specs. Instead, the current Council, led by John #Beauregard, refused to even allow the PBIC members to present their re-bid plan.

As far as I’m concerned, all the players in this folly including Town Administrator #Ezovski are complicit in derailing the original renovation projects, undermining the will of the people and wasting our tax dollars. They never truly supported consolidating school and town offices under one roof. Their desire to see their own vision implemented rather than supporting what was approved by the voters has resulted in scanty renovations at a greater cost to NS taxpayers.

There is a second issue in addition to the fact that the project doesn’t deliver what was promised. The course recommended by Mr. #Vadenais in the Valley Breeze article is simply an attempt to save face, by kicking the proverbial can down the street. The base bids for Kendall Dean were at least in the ball park but the architect’s projected estimates and proposed budget for converting the Municipal Annex into just the #Police Station appear to have been way off and the bids were all well over the budget.

If the Town Council goes forward and awards a contract for only the Kendall Dean project without having a bid (within budget) in hand for the Police Station renovations, it will be a recipe for financial disaster. This town is already carrying far too much debt and we are burdened with excessive bond payments to the point that we have insufficient funds for operating budgets. Such an action would be equivalent to a first time homeowner purchasing a home well beyond their means, and then having to choose between purchasing oil for heat or food.

My expectation was, and still is, that renovations will prolong the useful life of the Police Station building for the next 15-20 years. Should we find ourselves with fewer funds than needed to complete required renovations there is no question in my mind that we will be coerced in to building a new police station.

If we sit back and watch this council take yet another reckless action we’ll all pay for their recklessness with our tax dollars. If you share my concerns please consider sharing this post on your page, inviting friends to “like” this page or sending this post as a message to friends and family who are town residents. It’s your money; the only person who has the right to squander it is you!

#policestation #busheeschool #bushee #kendalldean #municipalannex #architecht #budget #debt #bids #schooldepartment #schoolcommittee #schooladministration #administration