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Public Safety Building Committee Approvals and Decisions

Design and Construction Documents

Funding Approved

  • Voters 2023 Annual Town Meeting approved funding for design and construction documents for a new public safety building to be built at the site of the former Princeton Center School
  • No construction borrowing has yet been approved by voters

Why Needed

Completed design and construction documents are required in order for the Town to move the project to a “bid-ready” or “shovel-ready” state, and thereby to qualify for/apply for state funds, grants, etc.

What are these Documents?

  • Design documents include a site plan showing everything that is needed on the site, including the well, septic system, storage tanks, generator, etc.
  • Design documents fully describe the floor plan and the exterior aspects of the building
  • Construction documents contain every detail that a general contractor and sub-contractors need to know in order to build the building

Bid Package

  • The design and construction documents will be put together as part of a bid package
  • Before a request for construction funds is submitted to voters at a Town Meeting, the Town will issue an Invitation to Bid on the construction of the new building
  • Potential bidders will use the documents to prepare their bids

Design Process

  • The Selectboard appointed the Public Safety Building Committee to work with the project architect (Caolo & Bieniek) and an Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) to move the project to the bid-ready (or shovel-ready) state
  • The Committee reviewed two preliminary designs and cost estimates for each design. One was a slightly modified version of what was shown voters at the 2023 ATM and the other provided some future expansion space.
  • On 12/19/2024, the Committee voted to move forward with the design providing some future expansion space.
  • The Committee reviewed three options for HVAC systems and voted on March 27, 2025 to move forward with the least expensive, in part because of space constraints in the building and on the site, but also for ease of maintenance.
  • The Committee named a subgroup to review OPM proposals, interview candidates, and make a recommendation to the Selectboard.
  • The Town entered into a contract with Vertex Engineering for OPM services
  • The Committee, working closely with the OPM, will be making multiple decisions on layout, materials, systems and other matters which are required to complete the bid package.

Going Out to Bid

  • When the bid package is complete, the Selectboard will vote on whether or not to authorize the Town Administrator to put the project out to bid and, if so, when.
  • The OPM will open and review the bids
  • The lowest cost bid that meets all the requirements will be used as the Construction Cost
  • The construction cost derived from the lowest cost acceptable bid is only “good” for 30-60 days.

Voting on Funding the Construction

  • The Selectboard will vote on whether or not to put an article on the Annual or a Special Town Meeting Warrant to borrow funds to build the building.
  • A Special Town Election will be needed to approved the required debt exclusion if the Town Meeting article passes

If Funding is Not Approved

If voters at any upcoming Town Meeting and at the ballot box (since we would need a debt exclusion) don’t approve the construction borrowing, the Town would need to send out a new Request for Bids to get an updated cost of construction so they could ask voters at another Town Meeting and another Town Election to approve the new number.

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