The Municipal Rink Building Committee has found roughly $1.56 million in reductions in an attempt to bring the cost of the project closer to its $30 million budget.
In its current form, the project is about $4 million over budget.
As part of a process called value engineering, the committee identified some cosmetic and structural changes, saving $1.56 million by looking for ways to reduce the budget and get the project back on track.
With that information in hand, the committee has outlined two options:
- Option A: Continue to find savings to bring the project cost to $32.5 million while maintaining as much of the current design as possible. Additional Town Meeting funds would be sought to bridge the financial gap.
- Option B: Scaling the project back to meet the $30 million budget.
“In Option A, the program has not changed; the building is pretty much the same,” Mark Haley, chair of the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee, said to the Select Board Monday evening. “In Option B, the program has, in fact, been reduced. We’ve had to eliminate two locker rooms, which would have been dedicated to the high school, and we’ve essentially removed one whole bay of the rear building, which is about 3,200 square feet, to get to a $30 million budget.”
In June 2022, Annual Town Meeting established the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee to oversee the design and construction of the building, located west of Harris Field, at the site of the original municipal rink. In April 2023, voters approved a debt exclusion for the new facility.
After cost estimates were provided, the Town Meeting approved a budget of $29.9 million in May 2023, of which $1.3 million would be covered by donations. This left bonding for the project at $28.6 million.
At a Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee last month, Haley identified several cost overruns, including a roughly $3.5 million increase in trade costs such as concrete and masonry, the site package, plumbing, and other smaller items. There also have been regulatory changes that have increased costs, and additional costs associated with scheduling delays. Originally anticipated for a September 2024 opening, the town is now looking at an opening in September 2025.
According to meeting minutes from February, issues on the site also impacted costs, including asbestos-containing materials found in two locations and a small oil spill. A water main near the site also broke.
Altogether, the increases have brought the cost of the project closer to $34.3 million.
“We’re all committed to bringing a beautiful building to the town, not an elaborate building,” said committee member Dante Muzzoli. “But we’re trying to make some tough decisions …We certainly don’t want to compromise the program.”
Town Administrator Patrice Garvin noted that for the question to be brought to Town Meeting, it must be presented to the Select Board for a vote and included in the warrant, which is expected to take place next week. The warrant must be approved at least two weeks before the date of Town Meeting. A public forum is also scheduled for May 22 to discuss the two options.
“Since the budget is going to go up …it’ll be up to the town and Select Board and the town administrator to identify a way for the town to cover those additional costs,” said Chair Roy Epstein. “Whatever that solution is, it is not going to be an additional issuance of debt. It’ll be something that does not increase the tax burden. We’re investigating some other strategies.”
