Flansburgh, town agree on contract
Published on January 14th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - One document down and one more to go.
The Stoneham School Department and school renovation project architect, Earl Flansburgh and Associates, last week, reached an agreement on an eight-year contract to cover the length of the project.
With that contract done, school officials and Flansburgh must now concentrate on preparing the final construction plans for state approval this spring.
Flansburgh has been working for the town for six months without a formal contract. Following the $40 million debt exclusion vote in December, approximately 150 man-hours have been spent by Building Committee members and school officials in ironing out the Flansburgh contract.
"Everyone feels the contract is a solid one for the town and for Flansburgh," said School Supt. Dr. Ellen Bueschel.
The contract covers Flansburgh's design work beginning six months ago and continues through the completion of the Colonial Park School renovation which is scheduled through 2005.
Bueschel praised the work of Town Counsel William Solomon for "protecting the town with precise language in the contract."
"The contract has to be precise since it stretches over so many years and because there are so many unknowns that we could run into," said Bueschel, who also recognized the efforts of School Building Committee members David Campbell, Harry Paicopolos and Marie Christie.
The contract calls for construction costs totaling $25.3 million, design and engineering fees reaching $2.19 million, contingencies of $1.85 million, furniture and miscellaneous equipment costs of $1.39 million and computer/technology costs of $753,000.
Additional project costs for items, ranging from hazardous material testing to printing to library books to a food service consultant, have been estimated at $2 million
An escalating inflation factor of 4 percent adds another $5.6 million to the project, bringing the total to $39.5 million.
The cost to build a new South School, which will begin this summer, is estimated at $7.33 million. Of that amount, $100,000 has been projected for demolition of the current school and $1 million for an underground parking garage.
The new Central School, proposed behind the current Middle School, is estimated at $6.5 million; the Robin Hood School renovation is listed at $5.82 million and the work at Colonial Park School is budgeted at $5.6 million.
Although Flansburgh will not be forced to stay within the line items that have been budgeted, Bueschel said it is crucial that each school "hold pretty tight to its specific budget."
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