Newtown will enter into “dispute resolution” with the Community Center architect and construction firms QA+M Architecture and Newtown-based Caldwell & Walsh Building Construction. 

There are some delays and possible cost overruns on the project after a number of errors.  The Newtown Bee reports that steel structural elements for the canopy over the senior center entranceway were not included in any original plans. Steel supports for movable partition walls were also not included in original plans. The rooms are already completed and they have to be installed in the ceilings.  There's also missing steel work and supports integral to the community center’s front and rear entrance ways. 

If mediation is not successful, then the parties generally can move to arbitration.

The Newtown Public Building and Sites Committee can only sign off on bills for projects that do not put the work over the amount approved by voters.  When lanes were added to the lap pool and the multipurpose room expanded, some value engineering had to be done.  Officials are looking at ways to either value-engineer the remaining work, or figure out other ways to pay the bills.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal says they've identified a number of items that could be reclassified to free up some project budget.  There are other things the town could take on, like paving.  If Public Works crews do the paving, he acknowledged that it's still a cost taxpayers have to take on.  He says it's not just the salary of town employees doing the work, but not having them available to work on something else and the contribution of materials.  Top soil work will also be done in house. 

The overall goal is to make sure the project is fully enclosed and has fully operational heating and ventilation systems.  He says items like furniture, kitchen equipment and a security package are not critical to completion of the building and could be pushed off.  Rosenthal says other funding sources can be identified for those items.  But he believes the security package change order is a priority. It will allow for cameras, keyfab access, though there will be a manual key as well, and will allow the building to be locked remotely. 

Rosenthal says while the patio and fire pit would maximize the rental potential, there are higher priorities, integral to the building.