Barrington taxpayers received some good news last week, as the state announced it would pay an additional $1.2 million in owner program manager costs for the Barrington Middle School construction project. 

Barrington Schools Director of Administration and Finance Doug Fiore said the district was not expecting the additional state funding, which was the result of the state's "school construction referendum" that passed during the November election.

"That means the state's grant to the town will increase, thereby reducing locally funded debt payments," Mr. Fiore wrote in a recent email to the Times.

"Also, the same school construction referendum afforded qualifying communities the chance to increase their eligible reimbursement percentages from the state. We are hoping to receive an additional 10 (percentage) points from our original estimates if we meet the incentives."

More than a year ago, Barrington taxpayers approved a $68.4 million bond to pay for the construction of the new middle school. 

Officials in town contracted with Brait Builders Corporation to complete job — Brait was the low-bidder at $51.275 million, which was about $3 million less than school officials set as a construction budget. 

According to the district's website, the project has been approved to receive reimbursement from the state for about 35 percent of "eligible costs" or about $16.2 million. 

Prior to the approval of the state's school construction referendum, Barrington had the opportunity to increase its reimbursement to as high as 39 percent (about $18.1 million), but it now appears that that figure could increase even more if the project achieves certain incentives.

Mr. Fiore said most of the incentives are related to energy efficiency.

Change orders

Earlier in construction, officials approved an $884,312 change order after it was discovered that more soil had to be removed from the site and replaced with "structural fill" or gravel. But officials said that most of the change orders for the project have been far less expensive.

To date, the project has had 28 change orders totaling $1,546,022. The largest change order was for the structural fill, followed by an increase of $210,398 for the addition of a mass notification system. Officials considered two systems — one utilizing a white light indicator and a second that uses an amber light. Mr. Fiore said public safety officials and members of the administration preferred the amber light system, but anticipated an increased cost because it would require additional wiring. However, the final quotes were much closer than expected, "making the (unanimous) decision much easier."

School officials also approved a $197,872 change order for a security enhancement. Other change orders included the installation of additional windows, additional pavement and the relocation of roof drains atop the school.

Barrington School Building Committee co-chairman Patrick Guida said most of the change orders were "primarily related to the safety and security of students and staff at the middle school."

A handful of the change orders will actually result in savings. 

Officials have eliminated from the plans a storage cabinet, which resulted in a decrease of $763, and are expecting about $50,000 in savings with asbestos abatement and removal.

"The credit for the asbestos removal was the result of accepting a change order offered by the general contractor," wrote Mr. Fiore. "The general contractor accepted responsibility of remediation of (known/identified) hazardous materials for the building site capping the liability of the town."

Nearly $10,000 was saved when officials modified plans that called for an electric vehicle charging station. The altered plans include the infrastructure for the stations and not the charging stations themselves. 

Despite the $1.546 million increase due to change orders, the Barrington Middle School construction project is expected to finish under budget. 

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore cautioned that there are still some "unknowns" including the future demolition of the old middle school.

"At this point it is (under budget), but we're not over the finish line yet," he said. 

Mr. Messore praised the work of the contractor and management company for the progress made on the project so far. (The work started in Feb. 2018 and the school is expected to be open to students in Sept. 2019.)

"We have a good construction company, and we have a good company overseeing the project," he said.