NORTHFIELD — The Selectboard is moving forward with PMA Consultants, a Braintree-based construction consulting firm, to oversee the Northfield EMS building project.
After meeting with two finalists and agreeing to start negotiations with PMA Consultants at their last meeting, Selectboard members voted to approve PMA Consultants’ proposal and sign the town’s contract with the company at their meeting on Tuesday.
“They were far ahead,” Selectboard member Dan Campbell said, adding that the company’s concern for the “community’s interest” and their intention to hire several locals to carry out the project struck him as “a smart thing to do.”
“They’re very active in regards to knowing what smaller communities are looking for, and they’ve got a really good background, come highly recommended by the people that they have worked previously for,” added Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III. “They seem to be very coordinated and money-conscious … and very thorough.”
The town is working to construct a new headquarters at the current site of the EMS station, 41 Main St. Town Meeting voters had approved purchasing the site, which the town had previously leased from Sandri. The sale, for $270,000, was finalized on Jan. 8. The town also acquired 39 Main St. for $1 and $110,000 in closing costs and abatement fees.
Looking ahead, PMA Consultants will lead the “feasibility phase” of the project first, as Selectboard Chair Barbara “Bee” Jacque described.
This first phase will entail evaluating the site’s environmental feasibility and constraints, plotting options for sewer and septic systems, drafting requests for proposals for building designs, meeting with designers “and really helping us to get to that target date” in November, when voters will likely consider approving funding for the next phase of the project, according to Northfield EMS Chief Matt Wolkenbreit.
PMA Consultants estimated the cost of overseeing this first phase to be $32,468, money that the town has already set aside for the project.
