School Siding, Window Replacement $2M Less Than Expected

CHATHAM – Siding and window replacement at the Monomoy Regional Middle School will cost significantly less than originally projected, as long as no unforeseen conditions are found.

 At its Oct. 23 meeting, the school committee awarded a contract for the work to Pearl Construction of Mashpee. The company was one of three bidders on the project; its low bid of $6,983,000 was nearly $2.3 million less than the $9,282,342 appropriated for the work.

 Even though there is a contingency built into the contract amount, officials warned that the cost could go up if the contractor uncovers unexpected conditions in the Crowell Road school.

 “We have room in the event that something goes amiss or we missed something,” thanks to the low bids, said committee member Jackie Zibrat-Long, who also served on the project building committee. “We kind of planned for the worst.” The project architects went through an “arduous process” in assessing the building to try to avoid that, she added.

 “There’s always a risk when you’re working on an existing building,” added owners project manager Brian Frigon, a senior project manager with ECC Corporation.

 Over the past several years the school has experienced air quality issues due to mold caused by water infiltration. It was initially thought that water was getting into the building through deteriorating siding and trim, but it was later found that there was also leakage around the windows. Both the siding and the windows were installed in 1997 when the former Chatham High School building was renovated and expanded.

School district officials planned to meet with the contractor in the coming days to discuss a start date for the project and how the work will be phased. Superintendent of Schools Scott Carpenter said in an email that he anticipates that the window subcontractor will be included in the session, as the timeline for fabricating new windows may control the timing of the work.

 According to a memo from district business manager Michael MacMillan, the goal is to begin construction in April or May, with completion by Aug. 20.

 The school initially requested $2.5 million for the project, but further assessment determined that the building’s windows needed to be replaced. The $2.5 million allowed the project to move ahead with design, engineering and project management costs, Carpenter said in an email, as well as development of the $9 million cost estimate. Voters in Chatham and Harwich approved borrowing that money earlier this year.

 The low bid is “good news for the taxpayers and gives this project some fiscal wiggle room if something unexpected comes up when all of the siding is removed,” Carpenter wrote.

 The siding and window work is the first phase in renovations to the school and must be done before the second phase, replacement of the roof. Zibrat noted that the siding and window project will include the work necessary to integrate the roof with the new siding and trim.

 “You’ve got to take part of it off to get the siding on,” she said of the roof.