Concept plans for new Amenia town garage detailed

AMENIA —  Preliminary plans for the design of a new town garage were presented at the regular meeting of the Amenia Town Board on Thursday, May 18.

Representing LaBella Associates of Rochester was senior project manager Pasquale Marchese, who outlined his findings about the current town garage building, a possible design for a new building, and financial implications for such a project.

Problems with the current building and its location include the lack of backup power in the event of outages, its location in a flood-prone zone, and apparent safety concerns.

Based on his assessment of the town’s population and potential needs, Marchese suggested improvements to be incorporated into a design for a new building of 12,800 square feet.

Improvements would increase the number of bays and install heated floors to accommodate winter melt from town trucks with appropriate drainage for water and oil, well and septic systems, bathrooms and overnight accommodations for employees, a backup generator, and salt and sand storage measuring around 50 feet by 75 feet. The storage area is not included in the new building’s estimated square footage, Pasquale said.

“The present location is good,” Pasquale said, although a new entrance will be needed.

As presented, the plan envisions a six-bay garage and solar panels to provide energy.

Estimating construction costs for the preliminary concept plan, Pasquale saw the base cost at around $4,351,050, with additional inflation estimated at 4% and contingency allowances estimated at an additional 25%.

Adding contingencies and inflation into the cost, Pasquale estimated a possible construction cost of $5,612,854.

Councilman Damian Gutierrez asked about the planned solar power generation and whether any excess power could be banked, adding that first, however, the town would need to determine that the solar panels would produce enough to create an excess.

The board will discuss the town hall design concept at a future meeting.