Amenia Town Board declares new pump house is in order

AMENIA — From handling a change order for its Trail to the Train project to replacing the Lavelle Road pump house, the Town Board was productive at its meeting held on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, Jan. 21.

Town reports

Town Supervisor Victoria Perotti said Town Engineer John Andrews had provided the board with an evaluation of the Lavelle Road pump house and its equipment. The board planned to vote on a resolution later that evening to authorize Andrews to do a cost estimate to replace the pump house.

Also in her report, Perotti said negotiations for the franchise renewal agreement with Altice USA are still in progress.

Town Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner notified the board about the seven proposals the town received for the Route 44 sidewalk extension to Beekman Park. Klingner sent out an email to notify the board it received two bids after the closing date on Thursday, Jan. 14. Bids closed at 1 p.m. on the 14th, but Klingner said she received two bids at 2:25 p.m. that day via FedEx.

Though she hadn’t yet opened or circulated those bids, Klingner said she wanted to make sure the board was aware of them. Should the board want her to open and circulate them, she said she would need to be notified in writing, adding that she believes the bids should be returned to the sender if they are not opened. Councilman Damian Gutierrez said he’d support opening the bids, considering that they were delivered by a third party carrier on the day of the closing.

“It doesn’t hurt the town to have more options to consider,” he said.

Klingner decided she would open the bids and then send the board what they said. The board gave her authorization to do so shortly thereafter.

Trail to Trail change order

Perotti turned the board’s attention to a resolution authorizing Change Order No. 2 to the A. Colarusso & Son Inc. contract to construct the Trail to the Train project, which extends a bicycle/pedestrian trail path from the Metro-North Wassaic Train Station into the hamlet of Wassaic. 

Perotti explained the Town Board had previously approved Change Order No. 1 to the contract, which modified the plans and specifications for the path but didn’t increase the total contract price. 

For Change Order No. 2, she said WSP USA, the town’s engineer for the project, negotiated and approved the change order, which will increase the originally awarded contract amount of $1,224,397 to a new contract price of $1,244,834.47.

After reading aloud the resolution, Perotti said WSP USA Resident Engineer Eli Castro would be tuning into the meeting to answer questions. 

Gutierrez reminded the board it had a competitive procurement for the project’s engineering process; that WSP was the engineering firm that designed the trail; and that those designs were what the board put out to bid for the bidding contractors to construct. Part of the project requirement, he said, was that the engineering firm be retained to continue monitoring the construction work’s progress. 

The councilman added Castro was the supervising engineering on site working for WSP while A. Colarusso & Son was building the path.

“What we are trying to get from Eli is an understanding of why WSP’s estimates that they provided to the town in their original bid were not sufficient for his time and services overseeing the construction project while WSP was there,” Gutierrez said.

Perotti said this will be the final change order that the Town Board needs to send to the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Dutchess County Department of Planning & Development to get the rest of the grant money for the project.

After joining the meeting, Castro explained that WSP USA used a program to keep track of everything that went into the project. That program summarized all of the item quantities and reviewed which ones exceeded the projected amount, and why. Castro said the information was put together and presented as a final change order, adding that any items that needed to be negotiated were negotiated with the contractor.

After Castro had sufficiently answered the board’s questions, the change order was unanimously approved.

Lavelle Road pump house

Perotti informed the board that Andrews had conducted a field observation visit to the Lavelle Road pump house at her request in response to concerns raised by Marco D’Antonio, operator of the town’s water system. D’Antonio’s concerns focused on the structure’s integrity as well as the equipment’s condition, the generator, the electrical system and its controls. 

She said it was Andrews’ opinion that the pump house and its equipment “are nearing the end of their useful life and have reached a point where replacement should be considered, planned and implemented.”

After reviewing Andrews’ evaluation, Perotti said she and the board believe it’s in the best interest of the town and Amenia Water District No. 1 to obtain a cost estimate from Andrews to replace the pump house and its equipment in accordance with current standards and guidelines. With a unanimous vote, the board authorized Andrews to prepare a cost estimate to replace the pump house at a cost not to exceed $3,500.