The Permanent Public Building Committee voted unanimously and enthusiastically Nov. 3 to award a $16.8 million contract to G&R Construction of Hanover for the expansion of the Department of Public Works’ Jack Cogswell Building on Central Avenue.
The cost is $1.1 million below the town’s estimated base bid on the project, which is being financed through debt.
“It’s a sensational bid,” said PPBC Chair Richard Creem. “We’ve had great success with G&R over the years on the Town Hall project and others. It’s really a fantastic situation that we find ourselves in.”
Annual Town Meeting in May voted to appropriate $19.6 million to expand the Cogswell Building to house the DPW’s Fleet Division, currently located at the 65-year-old building at 470 Dedham Ave. adjacent to DeFazio Park.
The Fleet Division maintains all town-owned vehicles except for most public safety vehicles. This includes about 280 vehicles, trailers and other equipment.
The 470 Dedham Ave. building, which also houses the DPW’s Parks and Forestry, Highway, and Water, Sewer and Drains divisions, was described at Town Meeting as being “at the end of its useful life” and no longer adequate to service a modern DPW fleet.
It has also long been seen as an OSHA violation waiting to happen due to poor ventilation, inadequate sanitary facilities for workers, noncompliance with contemporary building and energy codes, and a propensity for flooding.
The Cogswell Building, adjacent to the Recycling and Transfer Station, was built in 2019 to provide seasonal vehicle and equipment storage. It will be expanded by more than 12,000 square feet to house five maintenance bays with updated equipment, as well as parts storage and employee support areas.
The project is not without challenges. Site preparation will require blasting of rock ledge to provide the appropriate grade for the addition. A new sewer main will also need to be installed from the building site up Central Avenue to the intersection with Marked Tree Road to tie into the existing sewer.
The project faced some opposition from abutters and others concerned about a possible increase in traffic on the already busy Central Avenue, as well as an increase in the number of larger DPW vehicles that could be problematic on narrow feeder streets such as Marked Tree Road.
There was also the matter of the town reversing a commitment made in 2019 that the Cogswell Building would not host any employees out of concern that commuting to and from the facility would add to traffic.
This was discussed at Planning Board public hearings on the project, where the DPW explained that the eight employees at the site would arrive well before the morning rush hour, remain on site for most of their shifts, and leave before evening traffic.
DPW representatives also said a significant percentage of the larger fleet vehicles that require maintenance are already located at the RTS and could be transported to the new facility without traveling on Central Avenue.
The Planning Board added a condition to the permit that the DPW’s larger vehicles “not utilize secondary streets for purposes of site access.”
When completed — possibly by early 2027 — the project will be the town’s newest net-zero building. It will include eight geothermal wells for heating and cooling, as well as solar roof panels on both the new construction and the existing building. Plans also call for installing a Level 3 EV charger and converting the existing building from gas heat to an air-source heat pump.
Ten general contractors were prequalified to bid on the project, with five submitting bids. G&R Construction’s bid was $869,000 lower than the second-lowest bid.
Ken Sargent, senior project manager in the Building Design and Construction Department, said the bid price will allow the town to manage the project with a healthy 15% contingency budget — funds set aside to cover unforeseen costs during construction.
The green components of the project could return nearly $1 million in rebates and other incentives to the town under current federal and utility-sponsored programs.
Sargent said the ground-source heat pumps could be eligible for $247,000, and the two solar installations nearly $50,000, all from Eversource via Mass Save.
“And, if they’re still around, tax credits for $621,690,” he said, referring to a federal program created under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which still could be rescinded under the Trump administration.
“Now, those won’t be used toward the cost of the project, but the town will get those monies back,” he added.
Sargent said he expects to meet with the contractor in mid-November to discuss, among other things, the construction schedule.
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