WILMINGTON, MA — At last week’s Board of Selectmen Meeting, Town Manager Jeff Hull provided Selectmen with a very preliminary estimate on the costs associated with a new fire and police substation in North Wilmington.
“I would estimate the cost for a substation to be about $8 million,” announced Hull. “We would need to hire an Owner’s Project Manager [required under the state’s procurement law]… and an architect and engineering firm to design the project. Those two costs would be about $1 million. The actual construction cost would be $7 million.”
Hull emphasized that these numbers were “very preliminary” and the cost could escalate if the project doesn’t move forward for another year or two.
Hull noted that, while a number of sites in North Wilmington has been considered, a location for the substation has yet to be selected. Hull specifically mentioned two of those sites — town-owned property off of Route 125. Hull estimated a substation would require about 2 acres of property.
“Once we identify a site, the next step would be to seek funds for the OPM and architect. My recommendation is that $1 million should be taken from either Available Funds Free Cash or the Town’s Capitalization Stabilization Account,” explained Hull. “We would then go out to procurement for the architect and OPM. The architect’s design process would take approximately 10 months. We’d then go out to bid for a contractor.”
“It’s my recommendation that for [the construction] cost — in the neighborhood of $7 million — we could go through a borrowing process,” continued Hull. “Then we’re talking another 1 to 1.5 years for the construction to be completed. It’s a lengthy process, and until we have a site, it’s rather difficult to project the numbers.”
Selectman Mike McCoy noted that he would prefer to see the entire project paid out of free cash, not just the $1 million for the OPM and architect.
Selectmen Chair Greg Bendel thanked Hull for conducing the research and putting the document together, noting that – unlike other building projects potentially under consideration – estimated costs for a public safety substation were not included in the Facilities Master Plan.
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