In presenting the Rochester Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee members with thick information packets, Ted Galante of Cambridge-based Ted Galante Architectural Studios achieved a milestone step in his job to let the Town of Rochester know what it will cost to realize his recommended upgrades to the town’s Fire and Police stations.
Tuesday afternoon’s public meeting in the Town Hall conference room (also accessible via Zoom) was not an occasion to debate the merits of a three-piece proposal in excess of $50,000,000 but a discussion on scenarios that might whittle that number down.
“I think we’re going to have to get the other numbers for the other construction – precast and metal factored in,” said Committee Chairman Arnie Johnson, adamant that the town will not have the taxpayers’ ear without those alternatives priced out. “The townspeople are going to expect to hear all three options when we go in there.”
Johnson told Galant that the proposal would fail in Town Meeting without all the options having been explored.
Finance Committee Representative David Arancio noted that borrowing rates will also have a say.
Pulling together the kind of information it would take to realistically price out three different scenarios and then hold the informational meetings that taxpayers need to favorably consider such a project, insists Johnson, cannot be ready for a special fall Town Meeting. He said the voters will demand two things: a knowledge of all the construction options and once all the costs are combined, the bottom line for each scenario.
“Other towns go in and say I need $20,000,000, they get it, then they come back and say, ‘Well, you want to put furniture in this building.’ Our voters still have a lot of common sense … we have to go out and educate the voters,” he said.
The recommendation is that Rochester build a new Fire Station nearby the existing station on Pine Street, along with a new substation to serve the north side of town; the Police Station on Dexter Lane would be best served by a significant expansion/renovation.
Tuesday’s estimates on a conventional approach to hard construction costs is based on $900 per square foot (the current price of $860 is up from $840 only weeks ago, thus Galante’s projection on a two to three-year timeline.)
At 28,060 square feet, a new Fire Station would cost $25,254,000; at 9,514 square feet, a new Fire Department substation would cost the town $8,500,000 and the Police Station project, at 9,656 square feet, would cost $8,112,000.
The numbers, Johnson was quick to request Galante’s confirmation, reflect costs given Rochester’s resignation from the Stretch Code and the state’s Green Communities program.
Hard costs are those representing what can be touched, totaling $41,980,000 on a two to three-year construction timeline.
“I would like to come in here and tell you we can do all this for $20,000,000, but … these are the numbers,” said Galante, who then estimates the soft costs (fees, services, advertising, bidding, insurance, etc.) that typically inflate the total by 25% to 30%.
The total number, taking soft costs into account, ranges between $50,000,000 and $54,000,000.
“I can’t emphasize that enough … we’re just stunned,” said Galante regarding the dramatic inflation in all building costs since COVID. The increases rages on in the aftermath. He said a project his firm bid in Dennis eight months ago at $615 per square foot is already costing $860 per square foot.
While the Police Station requires much in a way of carpentry and stick framing, there are options regarding new structures for the Fire Department.
One is a pre-engineered metal building, another is precast concrete panels. Galante also explained bid packs: In theory, while utilities are being installed, the walls for the building could be manufactured off site, thus reducing construction time and construction costs.
One complication with pre-engineered metal buildings is availability. A project in Belmont, Galante said, talked with four companies, three of which are too busy to take the job.
“I just want to move cautiously … because the lead times may have impacts on the potential benefit that we could pick up and the cost reductions that are there,” said Galante, whose firm designed such a building for Brookline Fire Department’s training center and vehicle repair, saving some money. It’s a possibility, but there’s no guarantee there.”
All who spoke believe that kicking the can down the road will only make things worse. Johnson is concerned for the future of the existing Fire Station as a viable facility.
The next meeting of the committee may involve Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar or the Finance Committee, but before that happens Galante will have delivered a set of numbers for the committee’s consideration on bottom-line scenarios for alternate construction methods.
Rochester Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee
By Mick Colageo