Vote delayed on construction manager

The Waterbury Select Board will take more time to decide which company should oversee construction of a $4.95 million municipal complex and library at 28 N. Main St.

Three of the five board members were ready to make a decision Monday night, but Karen Miller wanted to reread notes from June interviews with the three companies.

ReArch Co. of South Burlington, HP Cummings of Woodsville, N.H., and DEW Construction Corp. of Williston submitted bids ranging from about $329,000 to $454,070 to oversee the project.

Some adjustments were made in the firms’ initial numbers after the board decided to delay the project until next April.

Miller said there’s more to the decision than numbers on a piece of paper, and she didn’t want to make a hasty decision.

“I don’t want us to lose sight of what those things are that we saw in the presentation and proposals,” she said.

Barb Farr, Waterbury’s long term recovery director, said all three firms are very interested in the job. She suggested the board could take two more weeks to firm up its decision, or another round of interviews could be conducted.

There’s no time to start the interviews all over again, board chair Chris Nordle said, and the results are already in.

“We’re only sitting here tonight talking about this because the grant agreement had to be signed when we made this decision, otherwise we would have made this decision back in June or July,” he said.

Nordle was referring to a $1 million federal grant for the project. The board finally authorized signing the grant agreement Monday night.

Farr also asked for authorization to sign forms to pursue three more grants. Two of those items were added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.

Nordle said the board should be careful about adding items to the agenda, because people should know beforehand what the board will be discussing. He cited the recent controversy over amending a contract with Green Lantern Capital for a solar project on Sweet Road.

In that case, a majority of the board found the lack of ample public notice amounted to an inadvertent violation of the state’s open meeting law.

On Monday, the board voted 3-1 to add the two grant items to the agenda, but when discussion began, Nordle said he was abstaining.

“I don’t want to participate in that until the board’s got guidelines published that we’re going to follow on these matters,” he said.

Solar opponents

Pete Kulis and Dan Sweet, who oppose the solar project, spoke during the public comment section of the meeting.

They asked if there’s been any communication with Green Lantern Capital since the board rescinded its decision to reduce the amount of solar power the town will receive from the project.

A change in the type of solar panels being used reduced the amount of electricity the project should produce, and Green Lantern Capital asked the town to reduce its share so the Waterbury-Duxbury School District could get its full allotment.

Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk said the town has a signed agreement for splitting up the solar project output. “At the moment, we have an enforceable contract that we signed in May,” Shepeluk said.

Kulis said the power promised to the village and town governments and the school district is not guaranteed because the sun might not shine, but the monthly service fees paid to Green Lantern are guaranteed as per the contract but not actual project power production.

Shepeluk said the easiest solution would have been for the town to accept less power for less money.

“But that’s what you objected to,” he told Kulis. “So now we find ourselves in the cash-flow situation you put us in.”

Nordle said the board, not the public, put itself it the situation.

“Three board members decided to rescind what I think would have alleviated the issues that Pete’s bringing up now,” he said. “At some point we will have to deal with it, but that’s exactly my concern and that’s why I didn’t want to rescind the amendment.”