Another $36K added to borough hall cost
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

Tinton Falls

TINTON FALLS - The Borough Council last week approved two additional change orders recommended by its professionals for the construction of the new municipal building.

Change order Nos. 18 and 19 amount to an additional $36,751 and bring the total cost of the project to date to $9.5 million, which may or may not be down from the $10.6 million that was approximated last spring.

According to Steven Pfeffer, the borough's chief financial officer, the numbers that are floating around keep changing.

"Sometimes, the cost is less than estimated," he said, explaining that the cost for one of the change orders is $15,000 less than was estimated.

Of the two change orders, No. 18 is the most costly. An additional $25,026 is needed for the excavation of unsuitable material from the parking lot area, and change order No. 19 is for $11,725 for modifications to the interior layout of the basement and first floor.

Councilman Paul Ford was absent during the meeting last week, so the vote was 3-1 with Councilwoman Kim Barrett casting the no vote.

Pfeffer said that brings the number of change orders up to 34.

"There were 18 in the beginning, but then we had other things we were waiting to get costs on. Even if they are on the list, I'm not sure if they are necessarily going to get done," he said.

Last April, the Borough Council introduced a bond ordinance providing supplemental funding for the construction of the new municipal complex that was approved after the May 2 public hearing.

The ordinance appropriated $1.5 million and authorized the issuance of $1,426,000 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost.

The $1.5 million in additional funding became necessary after unanticipated problems arose during construction of the building.

These included water problems that came to light after the excavation began last fall and the fact that an adequate generator was not included. Both of those items together cost the borough close to $300,000.

The $1.5 million includes a contingency fund of $720,000 for things that are not anticipated and brings the cost of the municipal complex, which includes the public works building that was completed in 2003 on the same site for about $2 million, up to approximately $14.1 million. It includes $1.5 million approved on Oct. 16, 2001; $6.8 million authorized on Oct. 16, 2001; $500,000 authorized on Aug. 20, 2002; $3 million authorized on July 20, 2004; $800,000 authorized on Sept. 6, 2005.

Pfeffer said the $720,000 contingency fund is still untouched. The contract with GP Parlamas, Allenhurst, is up to $9,505,516, but the amount appropriated for the municipal building is $12.6 million.

"There's quite a bit of that that has not been spent or committed yet," he said.

The construction project began in September 2005. The 37,000-square-foot building is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2007.