Two Sites Under Consideration for New DPW Facility
Aerial view of Amherst's current DPW campus. Photo: Google Maps
Report on the Meeting of the DPW Building Committee, 7/22/26
Present
Cristine Gray Mullen (Chair), David Ahlfeld, Sean Mangano ( Finance Director), Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), Guilford Mooring (Superintendent of Public Works), Bob Peirent (Capital Projects Manager,non-voting member). The following members were absent:Pam Rooney (Town Councilor, District 4), Holly Young (Town Procurement Officer), and Jason Skeels (Town Engineer). Amy Rusiecki (Assistant Superintendent of Public Works) was also in attendance.
The meeting was conducted in the Town Room of Town Hall and was not available on Zoom. It was not recorded.
At a meeting held on July 22, the Department of Public Works (DPW) Building Committee discussed the Designer Contract & Scope of Work submitted by Weston & Sampson (W&S) for a new public works facility in Amherst.
Town Capital Projects Manager Bob Peirent reported to the committee that the contract pricing for a designer came in “significantly below what we put in the RFQ” and that he has asked W&S to provide a more detailed budget breakdown with projected billing hours attached to each line item. The proposed total fee for Phase 1, which includes a building needs analysis and schematic design, is $390,000. Phase 2, which consists of design development, construction documents, and construction administration, was priced at $2,513,600, bringing the total proposed fee for services to $2,903,600.
Committee members asked clarifying questions of Peirent, primarily about what was included or excluded from the scope of work, which sites were under consideration, and the timeline. Peirent noted that site survey is not included but said it could be added, or the town could contract directly with the firm the DPW already uses.
Two sites will be studied — the current DPW location at 586 South Pleasant Street, and what is being called the “Ruxton” site at 531 Pulpit Hill Road. Up to three concepts will be developed for each site, with high-level comparative costs expected for each concept.
Town Finance Director Sean Mangano asked Peirent if geotechnical and hazardous materials assessments are included in the scope, to which Peirent said yes, to the point of “a paper study.” (One of the contract exclusions states, “Scope does not cover sampling, testing of hazardous materials or waste uncovered during these activities other than described above. No remediation or abatement of any hazardous materials is included in this scope.”) The RFQ provided by Peirent to W&S was not available in the meeting packet, so it is not clear whether these exclusions were intended to be part of the original budget. Potential additional costs for these items were not provided during the meeting.
The timeline proposed by W&S was characterized by committee members as “aggressive,” with four weeks allocated for a needs assessment followed by four weeks for site evaluation and concept development. This means that after two months a decision must be made about which site and building concept to develop further. “It will be us that delays it,” Mangano said.
“Can I sign this contract without full funding?” Town Manager Paul Bockelman asked.
In June 2021 as part of the Capital Improvement Program, the Town Council authorized borrowing of $1,950,000 for Public Works Facility Design and Engineering. According to Mangano, approximately $400,000 of that is for the Schematic Design phase which will produce a professional cost estimate that can be brought to the Town Council for its consideration of funding the remainder of the project.
Mangano told Bockelman he can sign the contract with W&S so long as wording is included that they are only authorized to proceed through to the schematic design cost estimate (Phase 1).
David Ahlfeld asked some questions about the Zero Energy Town Buildings Bylaw and noted that the bylaw requires formulation of a preliminary energy budget prior to schematic design.
“I don’t know how [that would work] before schematic design,” Peirent replied.
It was not made clear during the meeting how the committee will address this bylaw requirement.
The committee preliminarily scheduled a kickoff meeting for Wednesday August 5 which will include W&S, Bockelman, Mangano, DPW Superintendent Guilford Mooring, and Peirent acting as temporary Owner’s Project Manager, but not the full committee. The first meeting of the full committee with W&S was proposed for Wednesday August 12. Bockelman said that from now on the committee will either meet virtually or hold hybrid meetings.