The proposed Middleburgh ambulance barn/community center may be undergoing some changes after town board members had to reject site work bids last week.
Officials received three bids for the site work and the bids came in about $200,000 more than the projected cost of $500,000.
Town board members rejected the bids Thursday evening. Another building committee meeting is scheduled for this week.
The original plans for the facility were to approve the bids and have the site work completed this fall. The rejection of the bid and subsequent rebidding of the work means that it is likely that the site work will not be done until next spring.
In addition, there may be changes on the size of the building to reduce costs.
Thus far, "Everything seems to be a little too much money," noted Highway Superintendent Dale Nunamann.
It may be necessary, he added, to downsize the building, possibly from a 100-bed to 50 beds. In addition to shrinking the size of the building, this would also reduce the size of the parking lot, septic system, and other details.
"The biggest fear," Mr. Nunamann said, is we get three-quarters of the way through and we run out of money and the town is on the hook for the rest.
If the project is ended now, Councilman David Lloyd noted, the town may be responsible for the money spent.
"I think you should re-evaluate the whole thing," commented resident Joe Conneely. "Let's get it right. This has gone haywire."
Supervisor Pete Coppolo said the board needs more budget figures.
"We need to have some prices to see what the end budget will be to see if we can afford this building."
The $3 million facility, to be built on Cotton Hill Road, is being funded by New York Rising.
Councilman Lloyd added, "What is it (the final cost) going to be when we get the whole package. That's pretty scary."
A big problem is that the town is still waiting for final drawings and budget figures from the engineers.
Lamont Engineering is the engineering firm for the project but some of the work has been outsourced.
Lamont is being held up by another engineer, according to town officials. They are still waiting for mechanical drawings and a total budget.
The town received a bill from the engineering firm last week. Town board members agreed to withhold payment until next month.
A change in the engineering firm may be needed, Mr. Coppolo said.
The engineering firm that was hired by Lamont has been asked to redesign the sitework and some other components in order to stay within the budget, according to building committee member John Lawler.
One problem, he noted, was that the bid was presented as one contract and not five separate ones.
Mr. Lawler noted that the costs for the project could be reduced by moving a secondary exit for the main room and lowering the whole site by a foot.
He said he expected the engineers to want additional money for the extra redesign work.
The bid opening for the sitework was delayed a week in hopes that there were more bidders by the time the bids were opened.
The town has officially purchased 3.4 acres off of Cotton Hill Road near the bus garage from the school district for the project.
Board members have agreed not to hire a clerk of the works to oversee the project. Instead, committee members Superintendent Nunamann, Mr. Lawler, Steve Weinhofer, and Mr. Coppolo will review the work of the contractors and the engineers.
The unused school property by the bus garage will mostly be used for parking. That land will be annexed by the town from the village to make the permit process easier.
The building will be constructed in the middle of the available parcel as town board members have agreed to locate it about 150 feet from the salt barn and 55 feet from nearby homes.
Earlier this year, town board members agreed to position the new barn/community center slightly further away from the homes on Cotton Hill Road and more toward the creek.
Initially, the building was situated much closer to the town barn but town officials asked that it be moved to allow for future growth for the town barn.