A pair of roof-related items on Moorestown Township Council’s agenda had residents questioning council about overages during the Monday, Aug. 28 meeting in town hall.
A pair of roof-related items on Moorestown Township Council’s agenda had residents questioning council about overages, fees and contractors during the Monday, Aug. 28 meeting in town hall. A consent agenda resolution approving contract change orders for the improvements to Wesley Bishop Hockey rink totalling $39,677.72 and an ordinance authorizing $865,500 in bonds to replace roofs on the Department of Public Works buildings and Sewer Treatment plant were the catalysts for some debate.
Resident Edwin Begg inquired about the hockey rink during public comments.
“It seems like that’s not the greatest, most complicated engineering project in the world, so how could there be an [overage]?” Begg asked.
Township Manager Thomas Merchel said the change order dates back nearly a year to when the hockey club was looking to have a shelter that covered the entirety of the hockey rink in case of snow or inclement weather, which would have provided protection over the players’ benching. Merchel said at some point during the planning, the idea of the overall enclosure was ditched in light of the high expense.
“In the original design, there was a plan to do a roof structure over both rinks, so therefore they didn’t anticipate sheltering over the bench areas because you had a roof structure over everything,” Councilman Michael Locatell said.
Resident Paul Conlow questioned why the project, which has been ongoing since 2015, continues to have change orders. He wondered why a corrugated roof structure over benches would cost approximately $40,000.
“In the end, this is essentially off-the-shelf design,” Conlow said.
Locatell countered that the roof is not “off the shelf” and has to be engineered to withstand wind and other elements. He expanded that constructing the rinks was not as straightforward as using a standard design.
“When all these projects get done, there has to be thorough engineering because there’s a tremendous amount of liability on us, the community, because you’ve got kids out there playing,” Locatell said.
He said the roofing is going to be built under a prevailing rate, and the township’s spending is in line with the market price of what a hockey rink costs.
Of the project, overall, Locatell said the need for the rink was there, and all things considered, the township is getting its value out of the project. He said Burlington County contributed $250,000 to the project via a grant, and the Moorestown Youth Street Hockey Association has contributed as well.
The resolution authorizing the change order passed unanimously.
Resident Timothy Daniels asked council about an ordinance passed on first reading authorizing $865,500 in bonds to replace roofs on the Department of Public Works buildings and Sewer Treatment plant buildings.
Daniels questioned if the roofs were leaking at the public works buildings, if it’s possible that there could be damage to the underlying ceilings due to the leaks.
Merchel said the township’s architect identified the work that needs to be done, and he doesn’t anticipate ceiling damage being an issue. However, the grant ensures that if something should arise, they have the funding to cover the expense.
“There is a contingency built into this grant should they have those issues,” Merchel said.
Daniels explained the reason for his line of questioning was he has noticed a trend taking place.
“The overages are just ridiculous,” Daniels said. “It’s like every project there is an overage.”
Daniels cited the Moorestown Library, in particular, as an example. He said the project’s approximately $70,000 change order due to asbestos remediation had him questioning who writes the township’s proposals. He said the town will be paying for the asbestos change order for years to come.
He said as someone who works in the construction field, in his experience the only time there should be a change order is if the owner, in this case the township, wants to make a change. He said any inaccuracies on the part of the contractor should not result in change orders.
“It would be beneficial to the town if they were to hire someone to just to look over the contracts,” Daniels said.
Merchel said since he stepped in as township manager, he has been trying to taking a more holistic look at projects to ensure the township is making the best decisions.
“Can I say we’re not going to have a change order in the future?” Merchel said. “I can’t guarantee that.”
The next meeting of the Moorestown Township Council will be on Monday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
