Thursday, December 21, 2000 Older Editions

Safety center slow-going; Schools construction progressing

By Rebecca Piro

It looks as though students may file through the doors of West Andover's two new schools months before the police and firefighters use their new public safety center.

The new schools and public safety center are both shooting for a completion date of September 2002. But the Board of Selectmen's latest update says that the safety-center construction project "has had a slow start," and it appears the project is months behind schedule.

More help wanted? -- Andover officials say they'd like more progress at the safety-center site. Photo by Tim Jean

Since the new schools construction began in October, Cross Street residents have heard rock blasting and seen trees falling, says Plant and Facilities Director Joe Piantedosi.

"I'm impressed with (school contractor Callahan & Sons') progress," he says. "There's no question that the building will be completed and occupied prior to (the September 2002) date."

But things are different at the safety-center site, even though ground was broken there only one week after the new schools' groundbreaking. Piantedosi says that two major setbacks have put the safety-center project at least two months behind schedule.

One of the problems is the station's main utility pole, through which several communication lines run. The phone and cable companies have not coordinated a time to move the pole and its wires all at once, and contractor Mello Construction of Taunton, Mass., has had to work around the pole, which stands in the middle of the site.

The site itself is more challenging than the schools' site, Piantedosi adds, because workers need to sift through the rubble and foundations left behind by the former Tyer Rubber Company that once stood there. The school site is also on unoccupied West Andover land, while the safety center is being built next to the current downtown safety center.

Piantedosi also commented on the number of workers provided by Mello. "They have not had a lot of people on the site doing the work," he says.

Selectmen Chairman Brian Major says he is very concerned with the lack of progress he sees at the safety-center site.

"I would have expected more to be done by now," he says. "I don't think we as a town will be really patient."

Despite that statement, he is prepared to give Mello more time to work out the glitches. "In the next couple of months, if we don't see anything substantial, we'll have to take a serious look at the direction of the project," Major says.

Because of the contract that the town signed with Mello, officials have to give the contractor the benefit of the doubt, says Piantedosi.

"The whole process is dictated by law, and there is a contract between the town and the contractor... that has to be held to," he says. "This project is a two-year project, and the contractor basically has two years to complete everything."

There is a clause in state law that says there is a point where a town can draw the line and demand the bond back from a contractor.

"Unfortunately, we're not at that point," says Piantedosi. "That would be a point where someone has basically stopped work, or refused to do work, and is legitimately way behind schedule. (Mello) feels that he can get back on track and meet the schedule, so until we can prove that that's not the case, he still has the right to go ahead and demonstrate that he can do that."

Piantedosi insists that the town is really pressuring Mello to keep up its end of the bargain and get back on track.

"It's been action all the way - (we're) not compromising," he says. "I think that we've questioned every detail that we didn't feel measured up to our specifications, including concerns about the schedule. We have been meeting weekly with (Mello) in areas where there have been issues, and we've addressed them immediately."

Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski suggested that the situation between the town and the contractor was an amiable one.

"I wouldn't say there is any blame being passed around," he says. "(The town is giving Mello) a lot of encouragement."

Major expects a report from Piantedosi in January on Mello's progress, and Piantedosi says he will be monitoring the contractor through Feb. 1, Mello's self-imposed deadline. Mello has promised to complete a list of items by that date.

"They will be continuing to do excavation work for the foundations, screening (fill) to get the rubble out, and the footings and foundations will be going in within next week or so," Piantedosi says.

Some form of recourse - Piantedosi would not specify what exactly - will take place if that Feb. 1 deadline is not met.

"If they don't get the things done between now and Feb. 1 that they told us they would do, we will have to evaluate the whole thing at that point in time. If they didn't perform and refused to perform, (then) we would have to take whatever legal course (of action that would be appropriate)," he adds.

Major does not exclude the possibility of looking for a new contractor. "That's always a possibility," he says.

Stapczynski, however, feels that such thoughts are "a little premature."

Because the project has fallen behind schedule, Mello will have to make a few adjustments, such as pouring the concrete for the foundations in freezing weather with the help of propane heaters. But Piantedosi says those kinds of adjustments should not make a difference in the final product, and there is no reason to worry right now that the delays will cost the town more than the current $12.9 million price.

"If it's done properly, you should end up with the same result (as if the concrete was poured during the summer months)," he says.