Village of Lewiston to use fund balance to pay for unexpected cost associated with DPW garage addition

Trustees in the Village of Lewiston on Monday voted unanimously to use general fund reserve monies to pay for what was described as “unforeseen conditions” and “contingency costs” occurring with the Department of Public Works garage additions.

The approved motion reads, in part, “the Village Engineer, Nussbaumer & Clarke, Inc., has determined that an estimated $300,000 in additional project funds beyond the bonded funds may be required to mitigate the unforeseen conditions and complete the project.”

This is because, “during the course of routine construction of the project, unforeseen conditions have been encountered, in particular poor soil conditions which require additional contractor effort and funding to mitigate.”

Also included in the motion was a timeline that noted, “On September 20, 2021 the board of the Village of Lewiston adopted a bond resolution which authorized a capital improvement project for the Village Department of Public Works generally consisting of the construction of two additions along the South and East sides of the existing DPW garage building and the construction of a new standalone building for volunteers, including, but not limited to, general construction, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical work, as well as other improvements as more fully identified in (or contemplated by) a report prepared by Nussbaumer & Clarke, Inc. in connection with such project, and including all preliminary work and necessary equipment, materials and related site work, and any preliminary costs and other improvements and costs incidental thereto and in connection with the financing thereof, at an estimated maximum cost of $1,800,000. …

“The Village publicly advertised the project for construction and subsequently received bids on June 2, 2022 and awarded contracts to the lowest bidders Wargo/Peak Construction (Contract 2022-1G) in the amount of $1,398,300 and Frey Electric (Contract 2022-1E) in the amount of $71,000 on June 20, 2022.”

With the amended fees set this week, the project’s total maximum cost is set at $2,100,000.

As for the $300,000, a preliminary review of the municipality’s general fund lists the balance on May 31 as $2,893,427.

A public hearing on this matter yielded no comments, and the Village Board didn’t offer any additional details.

Following the meeting, Mayor Anne Welch said, “The additional cost is because of the soil content for the volunteer building. They had to excavate deeper to find stable ground, and the additional soil had to be trucked away. The soil was also filled with old debris from the ‘spoils pile’ during the construction of the Power Project. Hopefully, the construction will be completed by Nov. 1.”

Village of Lewiston Engineer Mike Marino explained, “Most of the original project contingency from the original bond was used up due to the post-pandemic construction cost inflation. Unfortunately, the unforeseen soils issue required additional funding to resolve. So, the approved additional funds are to mitigate that, but also has some contingency built in in case any other unforeseen issues come, so all of that funding may not be spent.”

He noted the south and east additions should be completed first, followed by the volunteer building.

The garage is expanding to provide additional space to store expensive equipment and vehicles and shelter them from harsh weather. In addition, space is being allocated for volunteers who, among other things, work on beautification and holiday decoration projects around the village.

•GM/Managing Editor Joshua Maloni contributed to this report and took the photo.

Construction work continues on the new Village of Lewiston Department of Public Works garage additions.