By BOB TUROSZ
NORTH READING — The town has notified two contractors that it wants to go to mediation to recover costs paid by the taxpayers in 2013 when the new high school and middle school construction project went 14 percent over the approved budget.
In the spring of 2013, voters at a special town meeting and subsequent special election approved an additional $15.5 million in supplemental funding to avoid crippling cuts to the two–school construction project, raising the total price tag to $122.6 million.
The process followed so far has been for the town to notify two firms – project architect Dore and Whittier Inc. and project manager PMA Consultants LLC – of its request to go to mediation to recover town costs associated with the “substantial budget increases” the project experienced after it was approved by the voters in 2012. The town is being represented by the Boston law firm of Furman, Gregory and Deptula, hired by the Selectmen as special counsel in March of 2013 to assist the board in analyzing for design or project management issues associated with the school project.
The Selectmen issued the following statement near the end of their last meeting:
“On Oct. 6, 2014, the Board of Selectmen notified the North Reading secondary school building project architect Dore and Whittier, Inc. and the owner’s project manager PMA Consultants, LLC, that it was requesting to go into mediation with each contractor to recover costs associated with substantial increases to the budget for the middle and senior high schools construction project. This action is a result of due diligence by the Board of Selectmen per its commitment made to the town during the process of requesting an additional $15.5 million in funding in 2013. The Board remains committed to working with both of these contractors to complete this important project in a timely manner while the matter of increased costs is addressed in the appropriate forum. The Board will keep the town apprised of any developments but will have no further comment at this time.”
Chairman Robert Mauceri explained the town’s request for mediation concerns not only the original cost estimates of the project but also recommendations made during the “value engineering” phase of the project, when cuts were being made to narrow the funding shortfall to something approaching a manageable amount.
Furman, Gregory and Deptula is a firm that specializes in construction law. On Oct. 6, Town Meeting approved, without a single question, an additional $110,000 for the town’s legal budget. Those funds are to pay for the legal costs of pursuing the case.
