Fire Station
Town Hall
Forbes Municipal Building
Recreation Center
This page will contain updates to the municipal building projects based upon the discussions of the Municipal Building Committee, bids, design and construction issues. It will be updated regularly and is meant to provide a direct source of information to residents that cannot attend meetings and to keep residents updated specifically during the design and bidding stage in preparation for the Fall 2012 Town Meeting. The updates below will be in order of the most recent meeting or action first. Please note these are not minutes of meetings, but information summarized to update town residents.
March 14, 2013 - Click here for the Town Manager's financial presentation on the Town Hall project and how it fits into the Selectmen's goals of maintaining the Town's debt at a managable level
March 12, 2013 - To review the floor plans for the Town Hall renovation, click here for the first floor plan; click here for the second floor plan; and click here for the baseement plan.
February 5, 2013 - The Town is now planning to phase in the construction and renovation projects that came before Town Meeting in 2012. The phased in plan is as follows:
Fire Station - Fall 2012 Town Meeting
Town Hall - Spring 2013 Town Meeting
Gibbons School - Fall 2013 Town Meeting
Forbes Municipal Building - Spring 2016 Town Meeting
By following this phased in approach, debt service will remain at less than the FY12 dollar figure, will be maintained at less than 7% of the operating budget and all four projects can be done within Proposition 2 1/2 as we replace retiring debt with new debt.
Fire Station - The Fall 2012 Town Meeting approved the construction of the new Fire Station and design plans are on track to have this project out to bid for construction starting in 2013.
Town Hall - The second phase was for the Town Hall project to come before Town Meeting for the Spring 2013 Annual Town Meeting for renovation. At the Spring 2012 Town Meeting funding was approved for the Town Hall and Forbes Municipal Building design/bidding costs. The design work is nearing completion. In 2012 the estimated cost for renovating the building was $6.6 million. At this point in time, the updated estimated cost is $7.1 million. The increase is due in part to a 5% escalation in the construction costs and budgeting $200,000 for temporary office space and moving expenses during construction.
Gibbons School - The third phase is to renovate the Gibbons School Building. This project is ongoing and the School Building Committee has recently interviewed Owners Project Managers (OPM) and will be working with the Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) on finalizing the details on the OPM in the near future at which point, the School Building Committee will begin working on obtaining architectural services with the goal of having an estimate for the Fall 2013 Town Meeting
Forbes Municipal Building - The fourth phase is the Forbes Municipal Building. This project is similar in cost to the Fire Station and to manage the Town's debt to meet the goals stated above, has to be delayed until 2016. At the same time, like the Town Hall there are repair projects that cannot wait, these included the elevator upgrade approved at the Fall 2013 Town Meeting and roof repairs that are on the Spring 2013 Town Meeting warrant. These projects are being done consistent with the design for the future renovation so that they don't have to be re-done in the future.
September 10, 2012 - The draft Fall Town Meeting warrant includes an article to move forward with the Fire Station project as previously proposed at $11,208,000. This project was approved at the Annual Town Meeting in March 2012 but required a debt exclusion approval as well. At the debt exclusion special election, the debt exclusion was not approved. The project coming before Town Meeting voters at the October 15, 2012 Fall Town Meeting is to do the same project, but within the Town's Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit.
August 29, 2012 - The Town Manager presented a conceptual plan to move the Town Offices (Town Hall + the 2nd floor offices at the Forbes Municipal Building) to leased space. There will be a public meeting on this concept on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 7 PM at the Forbes Municipal Building, Room 23.
June 12, 2012 - The Town was asked to post the specific section of the Building Code that indicates why the existing fire station must meet the current building code. This document was provided by the Architect on the project and can be found by clicking here.
June 5, 2012 - The Municipal Building Committee met with representatives of the School Committee to discuss the School Department's needs on the 3rd floor of the Forbes Municipal Building.
May 24, 2012 - The Municipal Building Committee opened proposals for the Owner's Project Manager for architectural design for the Forbes Municipal Building, Town Hall and Recreation Center.
May 7, 2012 - Reports - The following are various reports for the public's review:
The BVH Report has highlighted pertinent sections. It's important to read the last paragraph in the Conclusions and Recommendations section.
May 1, 2012 - Municipal Building Committee Meeting for Public Comments on Fire Station - The Municipal Building Committee met at 7 PM at the Selectmen's meeting room at Town Hall. Approximately 20 people attended, the meeting is posted on Westborough TV on this link Municipal Building Committee Meeting
April 26, 2012 - Owner's Project Manager RFP - The RFP has been placed in the Central Register to be advertised on May 7, 2012 with a deadline for proposals of May 24, 2012.
April 24, 2012 - Municipal Building Committee Meeting -
The MBC met today and took the following actions:
- Discussed the public meeting on May 1, 2012 and determined to focus on the upcoming debt exclusion election on the Fire Station instead of the Recreation Center. As part of this, Jim Malloy, Town Manager will discuss what the debt exclusion means and the impact on debt service and the average single family property tax bill. Nick Perron, Fire Chief will address building issues.
- Set a meeting date on May 29, 2012 to discuss the Recreation Center, this meeting will be in the evening to obtain public input.
- Decided to set a dedicated meeting in June to meet with the School Committee, the MBC will try to arrange on a Wednesday afternoon before the School Committee meeting.
- Decided to put one Owners Project Manager Request for Proposal out to include the design/bidding of the Town Hall, Forbes Municipal Building and Recreation Center and the design/bidding/construction of the Fire Station with the Fire Station portion to be subjec to the debt exclusion election on May 1, 2012.
April 23, 2012 - Owner's Project Manager RFP - The RFP is developed for the Owner's Project Manager as required by law for the design and bidding portion of the Town Hall, Forbes Municipal Building and Recreation Center.
April 18, 2012 - Architect's Contract
The Town executes contract with Jacunski-Humes to continue the design work through bidding for the Town Hall, Forbes Municipal Building and Recreation Center with the goal of having bids available before the Fall 2012 Town Meeting.
March 28, 2012 - Municipal Building Committee (MBC) Meeting
The MBC met today and took the following actions:
- Voted to continue with Jacunski-Humes Architects and requested the Town Manager negotiate a contract with Brian Humes.
- Determined that the requirement to have an Owner's Project Manager should commence for the Fire Station Project and requested the Town Manager to draft a Request for Proposals and advertise it so that the timing would coincide with the Debt Exclusion Election on May 15, 2012 for the Fire Station.
- Discussed reviewing other potential locations for the Recreation Center.
- Discussed the option of design/build for a Recreation Center and whether this would save substantial cost. Asked the Town Manager to review legal issues further and report back.
- Discussed the 3rd floor of the Forbes Municipal Building and how some changes could be made and the need to invite the School Committee and Superintendent in to meet with the Architect before any further work is undertaken on the design.
- Discussed setting up a dedicated webpage on the Town's website (this page!) that would provide regular updates as they occur to town residents to provide complete transparency and as much information as possible to inform residents.
- Discussed the need to hold several evening meetings as many Town Meeting voters voiced concern with not being able to attend meetings during the day.
- Discussed the need to hold a specific meeting on the Recreation Center to obtain input from residents.The meeting date was set for Tuesday May 1, 2012 at 6:00 PM at the Selectmen's meeting Room at Town Hall. The Committee asked the Town Manager to send out information to the local newspapers, Westborough TV and to get the information online. Committee members also decided that while this meeting was specifically to obtain input on the Recreation Center, that the Committee would entertain comments on each project.
- Discussed having an Open House at the Fire Station. The dates for the Open House were set for Saturday, May 5, 2012 and Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 8 AM to 5 PM.
March 27, 2012 - Board of Selectmen Meeting
The Board of Selectmen voted to set the Special Election for a Debt Exclusion Vote on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The question will read, "Shall the Town of Westborough be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition Two and One-Half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for hte bonds to be issued in order to construct a new Fire Station?"
March 17, 2012 - Town Meeting Actions
- Voted to fund the design and construction of a new Fire Station, subject to a Debt Exclusion Vote.
- Voted to fund the design and bidding of renovations to the Town Hall and Forbes Municipal Building and design and bidding for the construction of a new Recreation Center.
The following links will take you to the presentations from Town Meeting:
Architect's (Brian Humes) Presentation - Click Here
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