Half Million Dollar Jump in Library Project Costs
Photo: Shutterstock
By Mickey Rathbun
On Wednesday, July 23, Town Manager Paul Bockelman shared the results of the rebid of the roof for the Jones Library project in an email to the Jones Library Building Committee (JLBC). The rebid came in approximately half a million dollars higher than listed in the contract with the general contractor (Fontaine Brothers). Although the bids were received by the town on July 15, the town had declined to release them earlier.
The rebidding of the roof was necessary because the original bidding documents from fall 2024 called for an artificial slate roof to replace the existing genuine slate roof on the historic section of the library. However, as a result of the Section 106 historic review process, which had not been completed when the construction project went out to bid, the town later acceded to the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s recommendation that the roof be replaced with genuine slate.
The town appealed to the Attorney General’s office in January 2025 for permission to rebid only the roof sub-bid, for which permission was granted. Because the change in roofing materials would require a different skill set by the subcontractors, a new pre-qualification process was supposed to happen as well.
In a March 2025 memo, Bockelman informed the Town Council that “The library architect, Finegold Alexander Architects (FAA), estimated the additional cost of shifting from synthetic to natural slate roofing to be $228,000” and said that the rebidding would be done by late spring/early summer. He signed a construction contract in April 2025, without knowing the final cost of the roof. District 1 Town Councilor Cathy Schoen offered a warning about this in March saying, “I think it’s highly unusual to not have the contracts in hand when we go to sign them, and to say ‘we’ll just eat into contingency.’ Originally, we were going to rebid the roof to see what the slate roof installation, not just the cost of slate, would be before we went to a contract.”
Notification of the roof rebidding was via an addendum to the BIDDOCS folder on June 18 and hardcopies of the bids were received and opened on July 15, 2025. Despite the needed change in pre-qualifications, only the previously prequalified eight roofing firms for the project were invited to submit new bids, four of whom submitted new bids.
J.D. Rivet & Company of West Springfield was the low bidder, with a price of $1,684,700. This is $490,700 more than what is carried in Fontaine, the general contractor’s contract, which used the original low roofing bid price of $1,194,000 for artificial slate. The other three bids ranged from ~$1,7 to $2.4 million.
Bockelman’s email to the JLBC indicated that “Fontaine’s contract value will need to be adjusted to cover the increased scope and cost of the roofing work.” The General Contractor typically also adds an administration fee to the new bid amount.
Bockelman also noted that the additional half million in cost would come out of the project’s contingency fund, dropping it from the ~$3.6 million reported in November 2024 to $2.8 million, or ~7.6% of the project budget. These figures represent a ~25% drop in contingency from what Bockelman reported to the Town Council in March 2025. Project contingency is meant to cover all additional cost increases that the project incurs resulting from unforeseen developments, such as cost increases for materials and labor and unknown structural problems that could arise as demolition and reconstruction begins.
This was always the plan. Begin construction and tearing down the library and then hand the bill to the town which will be forced either to pick up the tab or do without the Jones.
And this is just the beginning of the predictable cost overruns and shortfalls in fundraising. All these (predictable) expenses will be passed on to us.
It would be helpful to get an update on the fundraising since it’s a big number to raise. Many are wondering about it and Amherst is the back up for unmet costs.
It’s part of the old neocapitalist playbook:
Privatize the profits,
Socialize the losses.
The problem:
How do we identify the profiteers, and how do we hold them financially accountable?
[ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/privatizing-profits-and-socializing-losses.asp ]
It appears that UDrive is a perfect location with lots of parking and bus access. The rent is a small fraction of what the interest on the $46m debt will be. Jones should stay on UDrive and repair and restore the 1928-1993 buildings as a downtown branch and secure home for Special Collections. It’s not too late if we act fast. The legal fees will still be less than the repairs and debt.
Hilda’s suggestion is brilliant! Was this option ever considered? It means, of course, an entire reworking of the project. Is it too late to do this?
Good idea, Hilda.
Where are the candidates for Library Trustee who will commit to financial accountability??
I am excited by Hilda’s idea!
Is it possible to get Hilda’s idea above to a town vote asap?
Especially in light of the now $500k (more sure to come) library cost overruns?
Holey moley, this is one of the important benefits lost by the passing of Town Meeting …thinking outside the box and doing so for the health and welfare of town residents instead of for special interests and vanity projects. You go Hilda! And thank-you for your continued commitment to what is honest and true.