- Site Info
- Town Manager's Report
- New Billerica DPW Facility
New Billerica DPW Facility
November 2023
Town Meeting approved the funding for the New DPW Facility at the Fall 2023 Town Meeting. This project will now move forward with design development. Weston and Sampson is planning to provide renderings for the next meeting. This project will go out to bid somewhere between February and March.
September 2023
Design work is ongoing for the new DPW facility. The Town has been meeting with architects, engineers, and green energy experts to determine what sustainable features are best suited for the new facility. As of now the Town is exploring building the facility to be solar ready and using rainwater for irrigation as well as the knock down pad for vehicles. Funding for the DPW facility is on the Fall 2023 Town Meeting Warrant.
August 2023
Cost estimating for the DPW Building was completed. Weston and Sampson and PMA have done many DPW buildings recently and their initial estimates were spot on. There is also some level of certainty in this number due to the fact that Tewksbury has received filed subs bids back on their DPW building and these numbers were consistent with their cost estimate.
| Schematic Design Cost Estimate | |
|---|---|
| Design, Management & administration | $ 2,234,500 |
| Construction | $ 43,415,500 |
| Owner's Soft Costs | $ 1,335,000 |
| Contingency | $ 3,005,000 |
| Overall Total Project Costs: | $ 49,990,000 |
July 2023
The Town received the preliminary results from the geotechnical investigations at the site which indicate some bedrock as well as large boulders that may need to be treated as bedrock. The Town will be meeting with the neighbors in the coming weeks to update them on the progress.
June 2023
This project continues to move along towards funding at Fall Town Meeting. The Town has almost completed the site layout including the administrative area, garage bay, storage areas, and other shops. The Town is also assessing improvements at River St Ext as well. The budget is roughly around $50,000,000. Due to the fluctuation and uncertainty of the market large escalation and contingency numbers have been included in the budget. The project team went before the Select Board during their June 5th meeting to present the design and receive feedback. The Board only had one request; equity in the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The project team has come up with multiple options and is still working through what layout makes the most sense.
March/April 2023
The project team has been working with Weston & Sampson, the architects, to finalize the design for the administrative portion of the facility. The team is primarily focused on ensuring the spaces are used properly and that all of the DPW divisions can be accommodated. The truck storage will have the capacity to fit our entire DPW fleet with space for more vehicles in the future.
February 2023
On Wednesday, February 8th the Town hosted a Public Information session for the new DPW facility. Weston and Sampson, the architects, presented the project to the community and answered any questions people had. Those who attended were primarily concerned about the new buildings impacts on the three neighbors. The Town will continue working with the neighbors to resolve any issues, but the project received positive feedback and will be moving forward. The Town is scheduling internal meetings with various departments to work through the permitting for the new facility.
January 2023
The Town has been meeting with Weston and Sampson, the project management team, and PMA Consultants, the owner’s project manager, regarding the new DPW facility. The meetings mostly revolved around preliminary layouts, timeline, and the permitting path moving forward. The project most likely will be coming back to Town Meeting in the Fall for funding. Geotechnical data, design, space needs, and site survey will be on-going in the coming months.