Extension Requested for Start of Library Renovation

Town Manager Paul Bockelman announced at the Town Council meeting of November 18, 2024, that he has applied to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) for a 12-week extension, until March 31, 2025, on the bidding phase of the Jones Library Expansion Project. MBLC had previously granted an extension until December 31 2024 (from an original deadline of June 30, 2024) for signing a construction contract. The town must meet this deadline to remain eligible to receive $15.6 million of MBLC funds. Bockelman told the council that he thought the town would not need the full 12 weeks to be ready to sign a contact. 

The original deadline extension was necessary because the town rejected the lone bid that it received for the project in April of 2024 which came in nearly $7 million over budget. 

The new deadline extension is necessary because the town has not yet completed its mandated Section 106 historic preservation review (see also here and here), and has not provided the requested “alternatives analysis” on how it will avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects of the expansion and demolition that were acknowledged  by the town’s historic preservation consultant. Nor has the town begun its mandated National Environmental Protection Act environmental impact statement. Completion of the reviews are required to receive $2.1 million in provisionally awarded funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The NEH grant requires a Section 106 historic review and the HUD grant requires both the Section 106 and NEPA review.  Also required to complete the Section 106 review is an archaeological survey of the library property, which apparently has not yet begun. 

The two bids the town received from contactors in a second round of bidding are due to expire on January 17. Only one of the bids came in near budget. Bockelman said he hoped that the bids would remain valid beyond that date if the town had not yet completed its Section 106 and NEPA reviews. The two contractors have already agreed to hold the bids for 60 days, instead of the usual 30 days. If contractors are not willing to extend the deadline for accepting bids, the town would have to engage in a third round of bidding and absorb all of the associated additional expenses.