STONE HARBOR – Stone Harbor Borough Council members were in for a shock at their meeting June 21.
Plans for a stormwater pump station that is a critical component of the borough’s flood mitigation plan has a new construction estimate, $19.1 million, up from the previous $11.5 million estimate.
The increase in the construction estimate was largely blamed on the inflation and supply chain issues that impacted materials like the 10,000 linear feet of pipe required by the design.
Utilities Committee Chair Reese Moore reminded the council that the borough expects $5.5 million in county support and $2.7 million in federal grant dollars. If both contributions happen at the expected levels, the borough would still be left holding a $10.9 million bill. Since the estimate for this pump station was used in the cost calculations for a second pump station in the flood plan, it is possible other estimates could be impacted.
Moore said his committee had only become aware of the jump in cost days before the council meeting. He also explained that Tom Thornton, the borough’s contract engineer on the project, could not attend the council meeting due to other commitments.
Borough Administrator Robert Smith said that the team working on the project needed to focus on some “issues nagging at us,” referencing disagreements among the engineers on “control valves.” Whatever the issues, it was clear that the borough had been caught off guard by the new estimate.
There was talk of peer review and value engineering aimed at a better understanding of what is driving the costs and what aspects of the design might be changed to alleviate some of them.
Smith spoke of his confidence in the engineering team and the borough’s advisors on the project, including a resident who was longtime chair of the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association’s sustainability efforts, Wally Bishop.
While all on council shared a measure of angst at the new estimate, formal comment took two forms.
Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour spoke of long delays in starting construction on a pump station that has been discussed for years. She worried that delay in decision making has left the borough more vulnerable to price increases, especially in an environment of abnormally high inflation pandemic-interrupted supply chains.
Council member Jennifer Gensemer voiced a concern that the council proceed with keen concern for “fiscal responsibility.” Gensemer said she did not want to see the council rush into a decision simply because it feared further delay.
Davies-Dunhour responded that her remarks concerning time delay were meant to emphasize the need for decisions and were not support for a rush to construction.
What path the council and its professionals will take to structure information for decision making is not yet clear.
Without Thornton present, specifics on the estimate or potential actions that might ameliorate the cost were left for a future meeting.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
