The latest cost estimate for the new fire house is $200,000 higher than the first estimate of $9.3 million, despite reductions made to the original design.
At its Tuesday meeting with representatives of the architectural firm Silver Petrucelli and construction managers Newfield Construction, the Fire House Committee looked at removing even more big-ticket items to reduce the cost by a million or more dollars.
Among the changes considered were changing bifold doors to overhead doors, changing flooring and roofing materials, and putting up only the shell of an ancillary building designed to hold ATVs and other supplementary vehicles. Lighting and heat would be added later, perhaps using local dollars to avoid prevailing wage requirements that come with governmental grants.
The committee questioned the $1.2 million in soft costs—non-tangibles such as design fees, permits, contingency funds and the like—but architect David Stein advised the committee not to adjust them now.
Instead, he said, the committee should seek alternate bids on the items it is considering changing. The committee asked for a list comparing the cost differences between the original and substitute materials.
First Selectman Matt Riiska spent Wednesday afternoon seeking information about USDA Rural Development grants and found that not much is available. At present, the town has been promised a total of $2.5 million in state grants and a local capital campaign, still ongoing, has garnered commitments of $2.2 million. Townspeople will have to approve bonding needed to cover remaining costs.
Edited 2/11/25 to reflect the facts that federal funding has not been promised and that the local capital campaign is ongoing.