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11/22/2017 07:30 AMAfter years of planning and work, it looks like the race to the finish for Strong Center will be more of a marathon than a sprint. After discussions within the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and Board of Finance (BOF), the town approved a special appropriation for work at Strong Field, but the BOF made it clear this would be the last unanticipated special appropriation for this project.
The center, which has been in the works for years, is designed to serve as a football field for high school and potentially college games, as well as soccer, lacrosse, and softball. It is also envisioned as a performance arts facility for music, theater, and dance.
Project construction was broken out into two phases. Phase I of the project included the replacement of the former grass football field with an artificial turf field and installation of the scoreboard, flagpoles, lighting, and bleachers with seating for 2,000. Phase II of the project includes a planned plaza and two field houses. The entrance plaza will include a gate; three stone pillars for gold, silver, and bronze sponsor plaques; and 325 engraved granite plaza stones. Additionally the site will include several park benches, a Champions’ Walk from the home field house to the field, and a memorial garden.
Phase II of the project was held up as the town struggled to secure a contractor. Back in 2016, the town secured a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for $500,000. According to a press release from Governor Dannel P. Malloy at the time of the award, the grant would cover “construction of an entry plaza and field house, restroom, and concession buildings”.
As the money for the project came in the form of a state grant, the state requires contractors must meet a set of standards ranging from insurance coverage to minimum labor rates. In total, the field house project went through three rounds of bidding before the BOS formally awarded the contract of $481,024 to Pat Munger Construction Co., Inc., in late April 2017.
Banisch previously said the field houses were coming along well, but that the grant from the state specifically covered just the construction of the field houses, not the costs to hook up the electrical service or build a septic system, so those costs would require a special appropriation.
Those items—the septic system and main electrical work—have already been completed, so the special appropriation from the Public Works Department totaling $30,519.50 was brought to the BOS and BOF retroactively. The way the appropriation request made it to the boards already caused some concern at a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee meeting and a BOF meeting and continued to be a point of discussion at the BOS meeting on Nov. 13.
Board members asked Banisch if there would be any other special appropriation requests for this project. Banisch, who had previously stated at a CIP meeting that some other additional items including lighting, fencing, and finishing the shared path by the field might be coming to the town in the coming months, said yes.
“Part of the problem is none of this was designed into the project from the beginning,” said Banisch. “It was kind of dropped on as things went along, including the septic. The problem is the field house project [funding] was just for the field houses—it didn’t include any attachments and it wasn’t accounted for in the $500,000 grant. There are more things coming along because what we considered to be an entire plan...was not. It was just the field houses being dropped in place.”
The appropriation raised some questions among selectmen who wanted to know how much was left to be spent on the project and who was responsible for covering the costs as the project is a public and private partnership with the Strong Center Committee raising a significant portion of the project funding. Strong Center project architect Duo Dickinson said his side has raised more than $1.5 million for this project and continues to fundraise to keep the project moving along.
“We had enough money to do a lot, but we have a gap to finish,” he said. “In construction, you either spend less money by doing more things at once or you spend more net money by doing smaller things on an ongoing basis because you end up redoing and undoing work…We would like to pay for everything that is done, but we would also like to rely on the town to do some things that are in their best interest as well, things like curbing and roads.”
Dickinson said by doing the septic work and the electrical right away, the town saved some money because the crews were already on site. He said the town benefited from allowing contractor to move forward immediately.
“I can tell you the more regulated and the more intense oversight that the town superstructure puts on management, the less likely you are to have these types of projects,” he said. “You have a delicate balance of encouraging this kind of spontaneous good will and free will given and at the same time doing your responsibility to be sure the town’s money is spent in a way we all are happy with.”
Banisch said he is working on coming up with numbers for any future project costs to present to the BOF. Selectman Scott Murphy said he just wants to be sure the town is not being used like a bank and Selectman Bruce Wilson said while the project and the project donations are wonderful, the BOS needs a firm grasp on the remainder of the project.
“I would like to...see that [the remainder of the Strong Center project spending] goes through the CIP and the money is properly appropriated as opposed to another special appropriation,” said Wilson. “I think it allows us to show we have our arms around the project and it allows us to show the taxpayers that we are in control of this project.”
By the time the special appropriation made it to the BOF on Nov. 15 for approval, the idea of any further special appropriations for this particular project had clearly been squashed.
“This is a one-time special appropriation,” said BOF Chair Jean Fitzgerald. “I spoke to Tom [Banisch] earlier today about that this will be the last special appropriation for this particular site and that any other projects that might need money will go through the CIP as all other projects would.”
The BOF unanimously approved the $30,519.50 special appropriation for Strong Center.