Sand shed in Pittsfield completed, unexpected price tag is $450,000

By Brett Yates

On Oct. 20, the Pittsfield Select Board signed a certificate of substantial completion to acknowledge the end of construction on the town’s new sand shed on Route 100. The contractor, G&N Excavation, began work in the spring and finished in September, meeting the town’s deadline.

The yearslong saga of Pittsfield’s effort to replace its old storage shed for winter road salt and sand, however, has not quite concluded. There’s still the matter of settling the final bill.

What began conceptually as repair job grew over time into a major construction project with a price tag of $453,122. The town applied for and received grants of federal funds disbursed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation to cover the bulk of cost, but the town still expected to contribute about $90,000 in local taxpayer dollars.

The amount could go up, however, thanks to an unexpected charge of $10,416 for additional concrete and crushed stone that appeared on the contractor’s invoice. Town officials contested that the project’s construction inspector, DuBois & King (D&K), should have sent a change order to the select board for approval before G&N purchased the extra materials.

D&K, an engineering firm, also designed the sand shed on Pittsfield’s behalf. G&N, the construction firm, based its bid on D&K’s design specifications.

“When the documents were sent out to bid with the quantities, whoever was doing the quantity at D&K used an incorrect equation, and my only option was to bid it as it was sent to me, and it was incorrect,” G&N Excavation President Michele Gaboriau explained.

“My feeling on the stone is that I don’t think that’s the town’s problem,” Board chair Ann Kuendig said. “I think that was a mistake made by the engineering firm, and I don’t see why the town would have to pay that.”

“I don’t mind paying everything but the $10,000, and I would not pay anything more to DuBois & King either, because it probably was their responsibility,” Selectwoman Joyce Stevens added.

The board members agreed to consult the town attorney on how to proceed.