Library project add-ons total over $100K
Change orders add up, but project is within budget
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
After numerous change orders for renovations to the Red Bank Public Library that cost the borough more than $100,000, the Borough Council balked at approving an additional $8,467 change order at last week's council meeting.

The total cost of the change orders to date is $144,231, according to project architect Ned Gaunt.

Gaunt said the $100,000-plus does not include the $8,467 change order that was proposed for approval at the Sept. 24 Borough Council meeting.

According to CFO Frank Mason, the project is still within budget and the original bond ordinance approved by the borough was for $1.775 million. The Borough Council awarded a $1.2 million contract for the extensive library renovations to Santorini Construction on May 2, 2006.

Mason said Monday the total expended to date is $1,321,356, and when $326,734, the amount still to be paid in engineering or other costs associated with the project, is added, he estimates the project with end up totaling $1.648 million.

The Borough Council voted at the Sept. 24 meeting to table a resolution authorizing the latest change order for the library renovation.

"I have some concerns regarding this," said Councilman John P. Curley. "We continue to have change orders on this and you know somebody's got to take responsibility; this is taxpayers' money that's getting thrown in here, and in my opinion when you have change orders like this, it's throwing money out the window."

The Red Bank Public Library is currently operating out of a storefront at 102 W. Front St., a few doors down from the location that is currently undergoing renovations. The temporary storefront space on West Front Street is being leased to provide an office space to library staff and limited access for library patrons. The library building at 84 W. Front St. has been closed since October 2006.

Gaunt, of Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis, Red Bank, sent a letter to Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels on Aug. 17 listing eight additional proposed change orders from the contractor. These change orders were received about a month after another change order was requested relating to the installation of two new windows in the library board room, according to Gaunt's letter.

The eight items on the Aug. 17 change order include "providing two new windows in the board and reading room, patching, repairing and painting the walls in the lower level children's room, constructing a work platform in the lower level mechanical room, providing four, 6-by-14-inch floor registers in lieu of specified registers to accommodate the first floor framing, replacing four basement air boxes to accommodate the owner's removal of shelving, removing and disposing of one third floor cast iron radiator, removing five existing lower level electrical floor boxes not shown on the plans, reframing for the board room floor grill per sketch of Aug. 7."

Even though all council members were in agreement that this resolution was something they were not going to vote for that night, Curley could not drum up enough support for his motion to disapprove the resolution.

"I say vote on it and vote it down," said Curley.

Instead, the rest of the council voted to table the resolution at Councilman Art Murphy's motion and opt for the architect and the library director Debra Griffin- Sadel, who Gaunt notes in the letter requested some of the changes in question, to come in during the next council meeting Oct. 8 and explain the changes.

"Whose fault is it that parts got thrown out; who is being held responsible?" questioned Murphy.

He added, "I don't necessarily know if I would vote for this. I think somebody needs to take a stand. I think somebody has to come and answer for this. Somebody definitely needs to explain to us why."

Gaunt had indicated more unexpected costs and work had to be done to account for things like shelving and parts of windows that had been removed without the contractor's knowledge.

"There was also some shelving that was supposed to stay and our library director decided, I guess of her own volition, to remove those shelves and that's costing additional money," said Curley reading through Gaunt's letter.

Gaunt said in an interview that he has a prior engagement Oct. 8 and would not be able to attend the meeting but hopes to meet beforehand to discuss the renovations. He added the project is almost complete and said estimates for an October completion deadline seem fair.

"Alteration projects tend to have more change orders than new buildings," said Gaunt last week. "A number of the items [changed] were owner requested."

One of the biggest questions at the council meeting was under whose direction had all these changes been made, since at this time there is no council liai son to the library board.

"I don't know why these things are not monitored," said Curley.

Curley sent a letter to the editor Sept. 27 titled "Close the Money Pit!" that elaborated on the rest of his objections.

"My objection to these changes was precipitated by the lack of accountability provided by the administrator, architect, contractor and library director," the letter stated. "

These requests have not been quantified to the taxpayers of Red Bank and have been submitted with the arrogance and assumption that they would be approved automatically," wrote Curley.

He continues, "Apparently it is easy to request additional funding from politicians who see no bottom to taxpayers' money pit. Don't forget the cost overruns of our borough hall and most recently the Monmouth County Hall of Records building in Freehold."

The amount budgeted for the library on the 2007 budget that was approved by council is $584,669. The building was donated to the borough for use as a library by the Eisner family in 1937, and the borough constructed an addition in the 1960s.

The library renovation project has been rocky from the beginning, starting even before the awarding of the contract. After the borough awarded the contract to Santorini Construction, losing bidder Monmouth Construction filed suit against the borough, claiming that it, not Santorini, was the lowest bidder for the project to improve the library building. A state Superior Court judge later found the borough acted properly when it awarded the contract for renovation work to the library.

The awarding of the contract for improvements to the library came almost four years after a settlement was reached with the U.S. Department of Justice as the result of a complaint filed against the borough citing lack of access to certain borough facilities by people with disabilities, including the library.

Sickels said previously that among the items found to be noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by the Department of Justice were the restroom facilities, which are not currently large enough to be wheelchair accessible, the aisles between the bookstacks are not wide enough for wheelchair access, and the three-story facility has no wheelchair accessibility except to the ground floor.

The children's section was located in the basement of the structure and is not wheelchair accessible.

Sickels said the addition of an elevator is covered, at least in part, by a $60,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, but the rest of the project is being funded by the borough.

"I think it's a big issue in that … because it's coming in still at budget it's one of those things that they figure they can slip right by and still keep adding, as long as they stay in budget so what? I think it's a bigger issue than that. I think we're seeing a number of change orders on this all in the wrong direction," said Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi at the council meeting.

Cangemi also noted that she did not want a non-vote at the meeting to hold up the library renovation project any further.