New Castle Awards Scaled-Down $11.6M Infrastructure, Streetscape Bid
The New Castle Town Board awarded an $11.6 million bid Tuesday night for the downtown Chappaqua infrastructure and streetscape project but eliminated more than $2 million of work after estimates significantly underestimated cost.
In a split 3-2 vote, the board approved a contract with ELQ Industries, Inc. of New Rochelle to replace aging water and sewer mains, the main thrust of the project. However, more than a dozen of some 220 items were removed from the downtown streetscape to make the cost more manageable.
The town plans to bond the $11.6 million expense, said Councilman Adam Brodsky. Work on the 18-month project is expected to begin later this spring or summer.
Council members Jeremy Saland and Hala Makowska voted against the project citing the board’s lack of transparency in informing the public about the changes and concerns that proper financial analysis hadn’t been conducted.
“We will never make everybody happy, (but) there are many, many people who are excited with this project getting underway and now it’s time to do it,” said Supervisor Robert Greenstein.
Brodsky, who headed the town’s Streetscape Committee which devised the project’s scope, said town staff, including Deputy Town Engineer Robert Cioli, and project manager Boswell Engineering helped decide the items to be removed.
He said he was disappointed the town had to make the reductions but that it would not diminish the project’s impact. The streetscape still includes wider sidewalks with brick accents and granite curbing, trees, streetlamps, a clock and the installation of a traffic light at the intersection of King Street and Greeley Avenue. That corner will also see a new outdoor plaza.
“It’s time to get this done, within the tax cap, and the residents will be thrilled with the results,” Brodsky said. “This project will improve the overall aesthetic of our Chappaqua hamlet and finally provide us with an infrastructure platform that will allow our downtown to grow and prosper.”
The award came a week after the board revealed that five bids were opened on Apr. 21 that ranged from ELQ Industries’ $13.9 low bid to more than $19 million, well above the town’s engineering consultant’s $10.5 million estimate.
Items eliminated are improvements to the Washington Avenue/South Greeley Avenue intersection ($370,000) and Marion Place ($210,000); the proposed pergola structure for lower King Street ($40,000); new sidewalks on King Street that were to be extended several hundred feet past the Greeley House but will end just past the site ($285,000); a sidewalk extension that would have gone up to Bischoff Avenue but will terminate just past the post office ($222,000); and the removal of the new sidewalks’ concrete tinting ($412,000).
A green wall and trellis and an LED in-ground well lighting and LED flood lighting with a combined estimate of about $184,000 was also taken out.
Furthermore, the town will purchase the outdoor furniture, litter receptacles and bronze plaques on its own instead of making it part of the bid, Brodsky said.
There will be no changes made to the triangle or the flow of traffic coming off the Route 120 bridge at South Greeley Avenue. All options to refine the triangle, including the proposed introduction of a teardrop-shaped island, proved impractical or were rejected by the state Department of Transportation, Brodsky said.
With a 10 percent contingency built into the cost, Councilwoman Lisa Katz said she was hopeful some items could be restored.
Saland and Makowska said while they want to support the project they objected to how the board majority handled the changes. Makowska said she had not seen the resolution detailing the revised scope until the board convened in executive session before the meeting.
Makowska also protested because with the town facing several other unrelated capital projects, she was concerned about shortfalls. She said town Comptroller Robert Deary had indicated that the $11.6 million bond was near the maximum he felt the town could handle.
“I need that evidentiary analysis and I want to make sure the town itself will not be put in a stressed position and not meet its obligation,” Makowska said. “We’re very lucky. We have very sound fiscal management. I think Rob Deary does a wonderful job as our comptroller, but I would like to hear it from his mouth rather than hearing verbal assurances. I’d like to have an actual document.”
Saland said he was upset that the town board agenda did not mention that a vote was scheduled on the infrastructure and streetscape, but simply as award of a bid. He urged his colleagues to hold off voting for a week to give the public a chance to weigh in on what has been characterized as the largest capital project in the town’s history.
“I think the public, at a minimum, should have the opportunity to be heard and not advised by award of bid,” Saland said.
Town Administrator Jill Shapiro responded that after the bids came in over estimate there was nothing to share with the public because the town was negotiating with the contractor.
“The only way for us to move forward was to find a way to do this project, so we scaled it back as best we could,” Shapiro said. “Any suggestion that this information is not transparent, that we didn’t provide the public with enough information for you to make a decision tonight, is a bit disingenuous, with all due respect.”
Brodsky said considering how hard the Streetscape Committee volunteers worked he “took personal offense” to the objections of Makowska and Saland as sidewalks deteriorate and drainage and sewage problems persist in downtown Chappaqua.
“I don’t know if it’s politics, I don’t know what it is,” he said. “You guys have your vote, you do as you see fit, and I’ll do as I see fit, but the fact is you are putting whatever your rationale is, you’re putting it above the residents of our community.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/