NORTHBOROUGH – American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds have been allocated to address a shortfall for the dog park project.
Located at 150 Boundary Street, construction on the dog park began in July. The dog park will be a 1.2-acre fenced in facility divided into small and large dog areas with a pavilion straddling both sides. The surface of the play area will be made up of a combination of wood chips and compacted stone dust, and there will be a large partially-wooded play area. There will be a paved parking lot for 10 vehicles and an overflow lot.
As of the Sept. 9 Select Board meeting, the crews has installed the erosion control measures and cleared trees.
In the coming weeks and months, the crews will begin installing the fence, the water service connection to Marlborough’s water main on Boundary Street, the binder course pavement for the parking lot and the concrete for the entrance.
“Lots of great things happening soon,” said Planning Director Laurie Connors.
The workers will take a break over the winter, and they will resume once weather permits in the spring.
The town anticipates that the dog park will open in May.
Shortfall
The town awarded the contract for the construction of the dog park to M.J. Cataldo for $585,352.32.
Connors noted that the project had two change orders.
She said the town originally anticipated installing a well for the dog park, which would have cost about $40,000. However, as Marlborough is allowing the town to connect to its water, Northborough will save about $12,800.
As part of the other change order, Connors said that they learned that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was going to require a change to the design of the stormwater management system after the project went out to bid. This will increase the project’s construction cost by over $40,000.
Additionally, the town has hired Weston & Sampson to provide construction oversight for about $32,400 and miscellaneous town costs, leading to a total construction cost of $656,094.
According to Connors, typically a construction project carries about 10% in contingency, but because of some of these unforeseen costs, the contingency for the project was about $5,000.
“So, we quickly blew through that,” she said.
The total funding for the project as of Sept. 9 was $621,452 with $250,000 coming from a construction grant that the town had been awarded from the Stanton Foundation, $347,500 approved in Community Preservation Act funds and $20,000 available for consulting services in the Planning Department budget. There is a shortfall for the project around $34,642.
Connors outlined two options – decrease costs by changing to design such as postponing the installation of the pavilion or increase the funding for the project using ARPA funds. Specifically, $65,000 in ARPA funds was requested — $35,000 for the shortfall and $30,000 for contingency. If the contingency funds were not needed, it could be used for agility equipment, paving the overflow parking or a stone dust path through the woods that would be Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible.
Ultimately, the Select Board allocated $35,000 to address the shortfall with the understanding that the project could return in the future.
