Gilford public works garage on track for August completion

GILFORD — The construction of the new public works building is on schedule for an August completion, with Director Meghan Theriault saying crews have been making up time from a slight delay early in construction.

Bonnette, Page and Stone "is making up time due to the better weather, coordination of these multiple crews, and the concurrent work done on the admin side,” Theriault told the selectboard on Wednesday. “They feel like they at least gained another week, if not more.”

Theriault said they are close to being back on target with the original schedule. With multiple crews working concurrently, she feels this will only get better.

“We are looking like we are catching up on any delays.”

Theriault said the concrete pour of 187 cubic yards was just completed, which included the 5-inch slab in the administrative wing, and a portion of the 8-inch slab in the garage. That was sealed, and she said the masonry crew is going to be mobilizing soon.

The masons will start with the large wall that separates the garage and the administrative space, and there will be work on the locker room and bathroom areas, as well. This will be in conjunction with plumbing and electrical work, to be fitted for pipes coming through that wall.

The siding crew will also be mobilizing, and Lyman Construction crews are excavating and getting the underground utilities in place, as well as the trench drains that run through the garage floors. Lyman crews finished the piers for the pole barn, and then the carpentry crew will begin work.

For the cistern, BPS is working with Banwell and Lyman Construction on finalizing drawings and cost. When this is done, Theriault will bring the final cost of the change order to the board.

The $11.2 million project is of major interest to town leaders, as well as residents. Selectboard Vice Chair Gus Benavides praised Theriault for her work to get the word out about the progress, including creating time-lapsed videos and summaries, for social media, and the public works website at gilfordnh.gov/entity/Public-Works-Department-10.

“Great job communicating,” Benavides said. “A lot of residents are talking about it, especially now that it is sort of taking shape. People are starting to really notice it. I know I was with someone in the car, and they said, ‘When did that go up?’”

Theriault was recently able to take public works employees into the garage for a tour, and while it’s a just a big open floor at the moment, it was a good chance to show them the progress in person.

Road salt budget

Benavides acknowledged it may be too early to say winter was really over, despite the date and even the warm weather. He wanted to know how spending was compared with the town salt budget.

“We are certainly not over budget,” Theriault said. “We are fine.”

She said at least half the budget is typically spent in the spring months, and her department can spend more than 50% in the first half of the year. While she said it would be good to hold onto about 25% of the budget, she returned to speak to the board later in the meeting, after she reviewed the numbers, showing they have about 10% remaining.

“It makes sense to me, because we have a lot of storms,” Theriault.

She said part of the problem was Morton Salt, the town’s salt supplier, was shut down and didn’t deliver salt. This caused difficult situations for many communities, but fortunately for Gilford, they ordered salt in advance. The town did eventually have to engage with their other contractor, Eastern Minerals, at $2 more per ton.

The main concern now is due to the issue with Morton, the price will likely be much higher. The salt shed is less than 50% full, so this is something town leaders need to think about, as the department has just about spent their budget.

“The question would be, 'Do we overspend the line and fill ourselves up with the current year’s pricing, or do we just close out the line and fill as much as we can?'” Theriault said. “We don’t need to resolve that tonight, but I just wanted to update.”