WINSLOW — The final cost of the stalled police station construction project is still unknown, but work might begin later this week without it.

The police station project was the subject of a town council workshop Monday that drew more than a dozen residents and representatives from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the construction company. No votes were taken.

Construction of the one-story addition to the police station began last month. Then, on Aug. 3, the fire marshal halted construction because there was no permit. Peachey Builders, which is managing the project, had received a building permit from the town but hadn’t applied for a permit from the fire marshal’s office.

Since then, Assistant State Fire Marshal Rich McCarthy has reviewed the permit application and has asked the town to address 16 items that need to be corrected before a permit can be issued.

The required revisions — many of which deal with compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act — range from simple to costly. For instance, the town might be required to install an elevator, which wasn’t included in the project’s original $638,000 budget.

Councilor Ken Fletcher leafed through a copy of the town’s contract with Peachey Builders and demanded answers. Fletcher said the contract includes a “guaranteed maximum price,” and the project will likely exceed that guarantee.

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Peachey Builders President Gary Peachey said the guaranteed maximum price was based on the scope of the project as they understood it at the time — before code-compliance issues were addressed by the fire marshal’s office.

Fletcher argued that the builders should have known the project would need the updates, because the contract includes a $6,000 line item that provides for a review of the plans by the contractor to determine any problems.

“Am I reading this wrong?” Fletcher asked.

Peachey reiterated his previous statement.

“The guaranteed maximum price was for the scope of work we had identified,” Peachey said. “If we would have known about it, the guaranteed maximum price would have different.”

Peachey acknowledged that a fire marshal’s permit should have been sought. He thought the project’s architect George Parker had sought a permit, and apologized to residents and the council.

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“The buck stops here,” he said. “I assumed — which is a mistake — that he had talked to the fire marshal, but he did not.”

Councilor Ray Caron asked Town Manager Michael Heavener why the town had issued a building permit even though the fire marshal hadn’t approved the plan. Heavener said Code Enforcement Officer Frank Stankevitz would have to answer that question.

At that point, resident Paul Dunbar, who demanded to speak, said ADA compliance issues are outside Stankevitz’s purview, and those issues needed to go to fire marshal. “And the town manager knew that, because I already told him,” Dunbar said.

Earlier in the meeting, McCarthy explained the application process and where it stands.

When an older building undergoes renovation, the project also must include updates to comply with modern building codes. Because the police station is attached to the town offices, the whole building needs to be updated, including a $68,000 fire-suppression system that wasn’t included in the original plans.

The town is not required to make the building completely ADA compliant during this project, McCarthy said. The law states that updates can be capped at 20 percent of the project’s base cost.

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The latest estimate for the project is $706,000, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect the base cost because the original plans already include costs for ADA compliance. Those items will be subtracted to determine the true base of the project.

Peachey said it could take two weeks to determine the base cost, but the project could be restarted this week, because the fire marshal’s office could issue a Phase 1 permit for the addition, and address compliance issues with the existing building at a later time with a Phase 2 permit.

Fletcher cautioned the council against re-starting the project without knowing its final cost.

“I am really concerned about continuing a project with no end in sight,” he said. “I’m not at all comfortable with how this is going.”

Council Chairman Gerald Saint Amand adjourned the meeting without seeking input from the public, saying it wasn’t a public hearing. Fletcher asked the chairman to schedule a public hearing at the next council meeting, and to schedule an executive session with the town attorney to discuss the matter.


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