Seven Design Firms Submit Proposals for DPW Building Project. Building Committee Continues to Limit Public Access

Seven design firms have submitted proposals to be considered for the Department of Public Works building project. Individual rankings by DPW building committee (DPWBC) members will be compiled and discussed at their next meeting on June 10, after which they will recommend a short list of firms to invite for an interview. The interviews will take place on June 23, and the final ranking of the finalists will be determined immediately afterwards. The role of the DPWBC is, however, purely advisory. The town manager created the committee, wrote its charge, selected the members (including himself), and will make all decisions about this project (per the aforementioned charge). 

The seven design firms that submitted proposals are:

RGB Architects Providence, RI

Wendel Williamsville, NY

Weston & Sampson Foxboro, MA

HKT Architects Boston, MA

Helene Karl Architects Groton MA

Leers Weinzapfel Associates Boston, MA

Anderson Design Group Montgomery, NY

Public Access Remains Limited
The DPWBC’s June 3 meeting was conducted, as have been all of its meetings to date, in person only and in the middle of a weekday afternoon, with no recording and no virtual accessibility. The committee voted at its last meeting to discuss recording the meetings and possibly changing to a hybrid format, but chair Christine Gray-Mullen did not include this on the agenda. Bockelman confirmed to Gray-Mullen that it is possible to record and conduct hybrid meetings at their current meeting location in the Town Room of Town Hall. Gray-Mullin expressed a preference to only record the interviews and not the committee’s discussion afterward, but Bockelman instructed her that if the meeting was recorded, the discussion would also need to be recorded.

Still No DPW Worker on Building Committee 
During public comment, this reporter again requested that all DPWBC meetings be conducted in a hybrid format and recorded, and inquired again when the town manager would make his decision on whether to include a DPW staff member on the committee. Another attendee, Robert Cann, noted that there is an employee who is “ready and willing to serve”: Town Engineer  Jason Skeels. 

At their previous meeting, the committee discussed making the proposals from designers available in the meeting packet. However, current Owners’ Project Manager (OPM) for this project, and Town Capital Projects Manager, Bob Peirent, said that Massachusetts law allows the DPWBC to withhold the designer proposals from the public until a final selection is made. 

At public comment, this reporter questioned who had made the decision to keep the proposals out of the public eye and by what authority?

According to the Guide to the Massachusetts Public Record Laws, “Exemption (h) serves to protect the integrity of the bidding processes used by the government to procure goods and services by allowing a records custodian to withhold the proposals of early bidders from other interested parties.” However, it further states that the records custodian may “withhold proposals and bids from disclosure until the time for the opening bids or until the time for receipt of proposals has expired. Once that occurs, the proposals and bids no longer fall under the protection of Exemption (h) and can no longer be withheld.” Since all proposals were due on June 2, there is no longer any justification for keeping them from the public. These issues were not addressed by the committee.

The town manager has wide-ranging authority on this process and could presumably correct any missteps in the process that are occurring in these early days.