WHITMAN – While, the town’s new DPW building is “very close” to completion, having received its substantial completion certificate, Committee member Scott Lubker said, there are still items on a punch list that need to be completed.
The building is now slated to be completed by Sept. 30, but the department hopes to be in the building by the beginning of September.
“That list has gone down quite a bit, but there are still some open items inside and outside the building,” he said during the committee’s Monday, Aug. 11 meeting. Landscaping, moving the island, capping the hill in the back and completing the removal of contaminated soil there, among some of the larger items.
The soil must be tested for each 100 cubic yards, as required by the receiving facility – and there are 400 to 500 cubic yards still on the property. The last test result is expected any day, but the slow pace is delaying parking lot paving. The cost for removal of the tank is $250,000 in cleanup costs and removal and other punchlist items brings the net interest of the project costs, but overall the project is still within the $19,010,000 building cost, punchlist work is funded by the contingency line in that budget.
Lubker said the contractors were not liable for that cost because the tank had been slowly leaking for years.
He said Pompeo pavers have been talking to the town and Page Contractors almost daily and Boston Green Environmental is doing the managing of the soil removal.
“I expect it to be done within the next two weeks, but I don’t expect it to be done tomorrow or the next day,” he said, reminding the committee that goes into a busy time for pavers.
Soil that was contaminated by a leaking oil tank is stockpiled and ready for removal, but it is a slow process to have it hauled to a site in Chicopee.
Another problem would be encountered if the paving begins but is interrupted by the pace of contaminated soil removal. Rescheduling to complete paving in such a case would add a $5,000 “remobilization fee” to the cost of paving.
Chair Kevin Cleary asked what “substantial” exactly means, as the punch list had been issued to the company involved, Page Contracting, on July 15.
“I don’t know how our contract reads, but we only have 21 days after that to add to the punchlist and we want to make sure that some of the things that are coming up are on there, or are going to be on there,” Cleary said. Items had been added to the list after the July 15 communication.
Lubker replied that items that had been previously discussed were on the punchlist, but he was not certain why the contractor had not updated the date.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter asked if the list had been signed off on yet, and Lubker said it had not.
Member Rick Anderson asked if the list had been distributed to the committee. Lubker replied it was included in the substantial completion certificate in the bid documents file the committee can access.
“Once we sign the certificate, the meter starts,” said Committee member Frank Lynam.
“A lot of those items – I’m not going to say most of them – but a lot of them have been walked through with Page, and it seems like they’re complete … but we’re not responsible for back punching,” he said. “They need to come in. We’ve asked them for several weeks, after each meeting, as it relates to getting the building turned over, taking off the builder’s risk and putting it on the schedule of locations to the town.”
A Page vehicle was seen arriving at the building site on Tuesday morning, Aug. 12.
“The builder’s list needs are more current,” Carter said. “They need one dated within two weeks to when they converted on the schedule. That’s what we’ve been waiting for. We haven’t signed off.”
Cleary said it made sense to have DPW superintendents David Lemay and Bruce Martin or anyone in the department to “at least take a look at that list.”
Lynam said it probably also makes sense for someone from the architectural firm to walk the property with Lemay and Martin to get a final list, as he had received from Facilities Director Todd DeCouto.
Other punch list concerns include copper piping in the pressure washer unit, there is also some IT work to be done by the town.
“He needs to come out,” Cleary said. “He needs to tell us that the punchlist is done. … Ultimately, he needs to sign off. … Obviously, there’s still a lot of work outside, but as long as they’ve finished paving the parking lot … we’re covered. I’m more concerned with inside the building and the little stuff on the operational things and design things that need to be done.”
Committee member Dan Salvucci agreed that DPW officials should walk the building with the owner’s project manager (OPM), point out items and see if they are on the punchlist.
“They’re the ones who work with it every day,” he said. “Like the hose to wash the trucks on the wrong side. …Looking at that, someone should have said, ‘Well, this isn’t right,’ before they even connected the hose.”
“They have the scope of the building,” Lynam said. “They should know exactly [what might be falling short], because what we’re talking about are defects. We’re talking about incomplete items and defects.”
He said that, at this point in the process, it should not be necessary to extend the punchlist.