A Special Town Meeting was held last night in Bethel where residents voted to allocate more money to finish construction of the police station project.
Bids for electrical, HVAC and plumbing work came in higher than anticipated and pushed the project over budget. Residents had approved $13.5 million to build a new police station by the High School. The original budget did not include plans to complete the firing range. Officials were optimistic that the overall construction would come in under budget, based off initial bids, allowing for the range to be completed with surplus funds.
There is approximately $197,000 in the contingency fund and the project is 70% complete.
The Board of Selectmen, Public Site & Building Subcommittee, Police Chief Finch and representatives from Downes Construction Company recommend waiting until the project is closer to completion and using a percentage of the contingency money to complete the firing range.
