New Fairfield
Selectmen to hold meeting tonight
Article Last Updated: 07/29/2008 06:42:23 AM EDT
NEW
The board voted two to one during its meeting Friday to remove the architect on the project, Robert Aldridge, and instruct the town attorney to recover $45,000 Aldridge has already been paid.
"We have no confidence in the architect," First Selectman John Hodge said Monday. "Everything that we've seen from him so far -- and it hasn't been much -- has been riddled with mistakes. The number of drawings that he says he has completed also isn't nearly what's needed to put a project of this size out to bid."
Officials said they fear further delays could jeopardize a $650,000 state grant for the building. Construction has to begin before Oct. 15 for the town to receive the money.
By contract, the drawings were due to be submitted to the town last Tuesday. On Friday, the architect told the Permanent Building Committee he would not submit the completed plans until he received an additional progress payment of about $2,000.
Hodge said the contract with the architect outlines that payment will be forwarded after the plans are received and reviewed.
Selectman Rob Oliveri said the board has concerns about how the building committee administered the architect's contract.
"The ordinance that created the committee is clear," he said. "One of their roles is to administer contracts that they sign on behalf of the town. They've allowed the architect time and time again to violate the terms of the contract. I'm proud of the action we took on Friday, but I wish we took it six months ago."
Selectman Tom Corbett, who was the lone dissenting vote during Friday's meeting, questioned whether the board has the authority to fire the architect, who was working under a contract signed by the building committee.
"Everyone who voted for it felt they had the authority, but I'm not so sure," he said. "I know the drawings were a day or two overdue, but all the other things have been addressed. I take these gentleman (the building committee) at their word and I have no reason to doubt them."
"This has come down to a Mexican standoff, where nobody trusted anyone anymore," Corbett said. "We should be able to get around this."
Aldridge, when reached by telephone Monday, said he was advised by his attorney not to comment publicly.
The selectmen will hold a special meeting tonight at 7:30 in the high school library to discuss removing the members of the building committee.
Oliveri said he looks forward to hearing from the members why they continued to let the architect fail to meet deadlines and other provisions of the contract.
Hodge said by allowing themselves to be manipulated by the architect for so long, the building committee has put a $650,000 state grant for the project in jeopardy.
"He hasn't met a single deadline since he signed the contract last September," he said, adding that at the time the contract called for the drawings to be completed in 45 days.
The selectmen and the building committee have expressed concerns about the final cost of the project. Officials with both boards said the project will likely exceed the original $2.2 million estimate.
Hodge said the architect "overdesigned" the project by adding a lower level he said would only add about $70,000 to the cost.
The First Selectman wants another architect brought in to revise the plans and create drawings that can be bid on by both regular and modular construction companies.
Modular construction, Hodge said, would be cheaper and take less time to complete.
"We should at least keep the doors open at this point to the option," Hodge said, adding that officials may also want to consider removing all, or at least portions, of the lower level.
Building committee chairman Bob Rawlings, who could not be reached for comment Monday, said last week that redesigning the project for possible modular construction could result in additional engineering costs.
He said the increased cost of construction materials is making the project more expensive than expected.
"The committee feels, based on previous cost estimates, the project may be underfunded," he said. "We don't have enough money to build it as designed, but we can modify it to build with the funds we have."
Building committee vice chairman Michael Martirano was also unavailable for comment Monday.
Contact Dirk Perrefort at dperrefort@newstimes.com or at (203) 731-3358.
WELL, ONCE AGAIN YOU MADE IT THIS FAR ... AND NOW THE FOLLOWING IS NO MORE.
The new center will also have a 600-square-foot deck overlooking the landscape. Hodge said in summer, seniors will be able to sit outside and look at the "beautiful brook and waterfall" nearby.
But hey, they have a T.V. Studio ....
