MONTAGUE — In accordance with state procurement laws, the Selectboard has appointed Skanska USA to serve as the owner’s project manager for the Strathmore mill cleanup project for a cost not to exceed $399,440.
The town previously contracted with Tighe & Bond for engineering work in the project to demolish the former Strathmore mill complex at 20 Canal St. Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller said the town is moving forward with demolition of Buildings 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and with high demolition costs expected, the town needs to limit the expense for an owner’s project manager.
“We’re aware that the pot of funds available for this project is limited, and every dollar that we spend on consulting fees is money that ultimately comes out of our actual demolition budget,” Nolan-Zeller noted.
The town received submissions from seven different firms, and ultimately selected Skanska USA, a New York-based company with offices in Boston and Waltham. Nolan-Zeller said that since the scope of work the town had included in its contract with Tighe & Bond included some of what an owner’s project manager would have traditionally done, the town was able to reduce the scope of the contract by approximately $80,000.
“We felt confident that they have direct related experience with managing projects on extremely complicated sites like this one,” Nolan-Zeller said of Skanska USA. “They have a track record of success with other projects that involve selective demolition and vacant former industrial buildings.”
Skanska USA secured a contract not to exceed $399,440, which Nolan-Zeller said will be paid for through a state earmark and funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Montague previously received $4.92 million from the EPA and another $5 million from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation for the demolition project.
Other construction work
During Monday’s meeting, Selectboard members also approved a $60,000 contract with Fuss & O’Neill for Oakman Street erosion mitigation and a $7,824 change order with Omasta Landscaping for an expanded footprint at Unity Park.
Nolan-Zeller explained that the town completed a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness study that identified stormwater drainage concerns in the hill neighborhood of Turners Falls. One location that was highlighted as a priority to address was Oakman Street, just south of the intersection with Highland Circle.
“This is the location of some increasingly concerning erosion right off the side of the road, which, from a resilience perspective, we’re only expecting to get worse until we take action on it,” Nolan-Zeller said. “If left unaddressed, a storm with severe enough rainfall could lead to a complete washout and road failure in that spot.”
Fuss & O’Neill will design schematic plans to address the erosion, which the town will be able to use to apply for further MVP grant funding to carry out the repair work.
The change order with Omasta Landscaping will support the installation of pour-in-place rubber cement in a larger area of the Unity Park playground than was originally expected. Nolan-Zeller said work is currently underway at the park and it was discovered that the exact model of blue tube slide that was previously installed is no longer being manufactured, so the town can’t replace it with the same size slide. Instead, the town is opting for a similar model that is slightly larger, thus requiring more rubber cement surfacing to be poured.
“Believe it or not, the old blue tube slide, the exact make and model from the early 2000s is no longer made, so we had to go with the most similar one we could find,” Nolan-Zeller said. “It does take up a slightly large footprint than the previous one.”
He said the project contingency fund and bid overrun accounts can support the change order, and the town will evaluate if the old slide has any value before it can be declared surplus and disposed of.
