Town Paying Library Project Bills Without Public Oversight

Since January, the Town of Amherst has paid more than $315,000 for services related to the Jones Library building project, none of which have been approved by the building committee, which has not had a meeting in nearly four months. In addition, the fees invoiced and paid to the Owner’s Project Manager (Colliers) and Designer (FAA) have exceeded the agreed upon amounts for this phase of the project by over $10,000 and over $180,000 respectively. Payments for asbestos abatement, HAZMAT inspection and design, temporary space build out, design to accommodate a change in the agreed upon easement with Strong House, and ads in the Daily Hampshire Gazette make up the balance of payments made without public notice or committee approval.

According to its committee charge, the Jones Library Building Committee is supposed to “Review, evaluate, and approve all project invoices…” This is standard procedure for Town building committees, and “best practice,” according to the Town Treasurer. 

The bidding phase of the project has been conducted entirely out of the sight of the public and has gone unaddressed by town leaders, despite another stipulation in the charge requiring at least quarterly reports to the Town Council. The project has also been plagued by delays (the general bids due date was originally February 28; it is now April 26), nearly 100 requests for clarifications and information by potential bidders, and complete redrafting of multiple sections of construction documents.

Despite receiving two sub-bids for electrical work, a 2nd addendum issued on April 22 stated that “the electrical filed sub-bid scope will be re-bid” and instructed General Contract bidders to carry $3,300,000 as a placeholder for the electrical filed sub-trade. A further addendum (#24) issued on April 26 set the electrical re-bid due date to May 16.

Not too long ago, the schedule projected that construction would begin in mid-March. It is now listed to start in June, and even that date is uncertain as the bidding process is far from complete.

In the meantime, the library is still almost $1 million in arrears of payments to the town which were promised by the end of January, 2024. Should the town need to borrow prior to receiving the rest of the money from the library, interest on those short term borrowings would be higher than had been projected when the Town Council gave the project the green light last December. Funds to pay interest on these loans would come out of the same limited capital budget from which all town buildings, facilities, equipment, roads and sidewalks are funded. The source of these funds is 10.5% of the property tax levy, a financial decision that results in squeezing operating budgets such as those of the schools.