Finance Committee — 01/19/2022 Page 11
Little bit of background regarding this project. We started the retrofit project in July of 2021. It was supposed to be
completed in November of 2021. Due to unforeseen delays and also unforeseen construction issues that we had to make
sure that we were within code and also to change some design to make sure the inside of the building was ADA
accessible, we have found that the project because there’s a portion of the project that’s external had to go into winter
shutdown in December per the New Hampshire law. The internal portion of the construction is still continuing. There’s
also some supply chain issues along the way that did delay some of the materials from coming in. So just overall with the
project, it just got extended recently to May of 2022 for the contractor.
Internally with the NTS staff, we do not have the engineering capabilities of overseeing the project. It was decided years
ago that when they moved forward with this project there would engineering construction administration on site, oversight,
and also architectural oversight, mechanical engineering oversight all through a company that could assist us with that.
GPI as chosen as the particular company of choice and in order to complete this project, NTS is requesting that the
current engineering firm that’s providing this service, their contract is extended through June of 2022 because the
contractor ends in May. It provides us the opportunity to finish all the paperwork that has to be done through the federal
guidelines, the Davis Bacon, make sure the certified payrolls are done, and everything is lined up so that when we have
our internal review from the Federal Transit Administration on this project that we are able to just flow through all the
documentation and make sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed because we have that oversight in place.
They are also on site to provide any liaising between the contractor and the architect on the internal as well as the
external in regards to elevation, piping, manholes, catch basins, a lot of things that could be potentially having a question.
In April of this year, the north side roadway and a portion of Garden Street will be under construction. That whole area is
going to look more like a plaza and enhance that area. So the sidewalks have been widened in some areas so far and
then when the winter shutdown has been completed, the north side sidewalks will be extended and the roadway asphalt
replaced because if you were to walk between the garage and the middle of the transit center, you'll see that the asphalt
is a biton a wave. So we want to make sure that we are supporting underneath the asphalt and then applying the correct
amount of asphalt to support the weight of a bus. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to entertain them.
Alderman Comeau
Thank you. | have a couple of questions. First, you mentioned that the project was delayed due to some unforeseen
circumstances. Can you tell us more about what those circumstances were?
Camille Correa, Transit Administrator
Sure. They’re on the inside of the building. As we were progressing, there was a column found in the middle of the
building which changed the design of the two bathrooms. The inside of the transit center — the portion that’s not the
waiting room but the lobby and over — was gutted out so that the breakroom would change. There would be a driver’s
bathroom because prior to that the drivers would share a bathroom with the public and we wanted to make sure that
there was an area where they could just come in and out through the breakroom and to change the security provisions in
regards to the bathrooms. So at one time, they had doors on them and now it will be more airport style where you can go
in and come out. What was found at that time is that the design of the bathrooms had to change a little bit or in some
areas quite a bit and then a portion of what was in the bathroom like the mop/sink had to be moved into another location.
So there were delays in regards to making sure that the design was right, that the dimensions were right, that the supplies
could come in and along the project, we’re finding that there has to be a lot of communication between the contractor,
engineering firm, the city, and also the architect just in general to make sure that everybody is moving along. So at times
whether it’s internal or external, they found a gas pipe and also a 100 year old sewer catch basin that was made out of
brick that had to be removed. It had a cast iron pipe. That took about two weeks to have DPW come in and remove that
sewer line. It was huge and workmanship of 100 years ago. They had to pull it out with equipment, and refill all the dirt,
and do all that work. There was also a foundation from a house. When you look at the aerial of that area before the
transit center was built, there used to be houses there. So they found a foundation. They had to dig all that up on the
outside. Then they had to move some manholes and change some elevation. So just along the way if we see something,
then we have to get everything lined up to move to the next step, get everything lined up to move to the next step, and
then here we are winter shutdown. So that’s part of it. I’m happy to go into more detail some other time if you ever have
any questions.
Alderman Comeau
Thank you. Mr. Mayor more of a procedural question. During the reading, the Clerk mentioned a couple of times in an
amount not to exceed. So | imagine when this first came through for the initial $120,000 roughly, it had similar language.
