ORANGE — The Selectboard voted last week to use $119,852 of the town’s money to fill a funding gap that has emerged during the Wheeler Memorial Library roof replacement project.
Initial estimated costs were provided by Gale Associates, an architectural firm hired by the Orange Public Libraries board of trustees to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the conditions of the roof and surrounding masonry integrated with the roof system. These included the base cost of construction, a 10% contingency fund to address unforeseen conditions, and a 5% construction cost escalator between the time of the estimate (April 2025) and the estimated construction start date of 2026.
Those costs came to $271,530, which was covered by a federal Community Development Block Grant. However, the price of construction materials has skyrocketed. As a result, the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority, acting as Orange’s grant administrator, recommended a 15% contingency allocation instead of the standard 10%. These two factors resulted in the $119,852 funding gap.
“I don’t want to get political, but oil affects building products,” said Brian McHugh, the housing authority’s community development director. The New York Times reports that crude oil prices sit between $83 and $87 per barrel, up significantly from earlier projections of $60 a barrel for the year due to conflicts in the Middle East and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, the Selectboard also voted to award a $340,332 contract to Altitude Roofing in Leicester and to authorize Chair Julie Davis to sign the award letter and execute the contract.
The library at 49 East Main St. was a gift to the town from Almira Wheeler Thompson in honor of her late husband, John W. Wheeler, a lifelong resident of Orange and president of the New Home Sewing Machine Co. Construction began in the fall of 1912, and the building was officially dedicated and opened to the public on April 17, 1914. However, many aspects of the building have fallen into disrepair.
In November 2022, voters rejected by 58 votes a debt-exclusion override to authorize borrowing up to $10.4 million to supplement a $5.2 million grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). The vote failed, 1291-1233, with 47% of registered voters casting ballots.
Jason Sullivan-Flynn, who began working at the library as its children’s librarian in 2016 and became its director about two years ago, said the roof is in dire need of repair.
“There is significant water damage to the inside of the library, and that’s due … to the leaks in the roof,” he told the Greenfield Recorder.
Sullivan-Flynn also told Selectboard members that the handicap ramp on the side of the building is closed for repairs, as the railings need to be replaced. He told the Recorder this will likely occur in the next two weeks and will be paid for with about $15,000 in state aid.
