The Woodstock Town Board approved contracts for the $2.88 million Comeau town offices renovation amid some concern about the materials to be used for a connector between an addition and existing building.
A review by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) recommended the walls of the connector be glass to minimize visual impact and improve the chances of the Dutch-revival home’s eligibility for listing on the state or national Registers of Historic Places.
Council member Bennet Ratcliff noted that while SHPO received changes in the plans to reflect glass walls, they had not yet approved it.
“I would rather that we wait for SHPO to review that glass wall design before we move forward. I have no questions about the bidding or the contracting, but I continue to want to see the clarity of SHPO’s approval of the glass wall before we approve these contracts,” Ratcliff said at the October 18 Town Board meeting. “I am certain that we all agree that what we want is the historical preservation application to be strong and so I am interested in seeing that before we move to approve these contracts.”
Supervisor Bill McKenna said the contracts are only good for 45 days and didn’t know how long it would take SHPO to approve the design.
“I would recommend that we move forward — nothing is going to change within the contract based on shipper’s decision. If they come back with a different design, there’ll be a change order, which will actually be less money because it’s reducing the work up there,” McKenna said.
But Ratcliff said the contract approvals should be tabled until SHPO responds.
The motion to table failed 3-2, with Ratcliff and council member Maria-Elena Conte voting to table and McKenna and council members Laura Ricci and Reggie Earls voting against.
The contracts were approved 3-2, with Ratcliff and Conte also voting “no.”
Under General Municipal Law Section 101, known as Wicks Law, any project exceeding $500,000 must have a general contractor and separate contractors for HVAC, electrical and plumbing work.
The general contractor is One Way Construction Services Inc of West Hurley for $1,885,727. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) is DJ Heating & Air Conditioning Inc of Marlboro for $428,000. CDE Electric Inc of Cairo is the electrical contractor at $368,000. The sole bidder for plumbing was S&O Construction of Pleasant Valley for $195,675.
The total cost is $2,877,402, below the $2.9 million cap imposed by town officials.
The renovations, designed by Walker Architecture, will make the offices ADA compliant and accessible by bringing all the public spaces onto the first floor through an addition in the rear of the main building.
Join the family! 
