Citing the dissemination of “incorrect information” presented at recent Board of Selectmen meetings, former First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice weighed in last week about the Wilton Police Department’s $19-million headquarters construction project.
Among her concerns, Vanderslice noted that officials from the Department of Public Works who are managing the project appear to be working from a budget different from the one approved by the BOS in September 2023, and that some of the costs being added to the construction total were never intended to be part of it.
On Thursday, June 12, Vanderslice sent an email to the members of the BOS and several town officials in response to questions posed by GOOD Morning Wilton.
“I only respond to such inquiries when I see incorrect information,” she said, noting she had watched the last BOS meeting.
Vanderslice said DPW Director Frank Smeriglio, DPW Assistant Director Jeff Pardo, and others “appear to be working with a budget other than the amended remaining budget adopted at the Sept. 19, 2023, BOS meeting.”
“They have repeatedly referred to the furniture budget as $231,000, which is incorrect,” she wrote in an email to a list of town officials that included Smeriglio, Police Chief Tom Conlan, CFO Dawn Norton and Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker.
“At the 9/19/23 meeting the $231,000 was changed to the budget for the 20% match and furniture,” Vanderslice wrote. “Chief Conlan had indicated not all furniture needed to be replaced immediately.”
“That meeting was attended by many of you,” she wrote. “A summary budget was presented. It was developed as a collaborative effort by staff and me.”
Vanderslice also stated that Pardo, Smeriglio and others “do not appear to know that some costs, such as the grey house (removal) and the rent for the parking lot, were never intended to be included in and paid out of the PDHQ budget.”
“Those costs and other small costs which were not the building itself plus any cost ineligible for bonding were to be paid with operating expense/operating expense savings,” she wrote, noting that bonding would add 25% or more in interest.
Vanderslice also reminded the BOS that it had accepted her recommendation to act as the building committee during the construction phase of the project, with the decision to designate former DPW director and facilities manager Chris Burney as the construction manager made collectively by the BOS.
Pardo has recently come under some criticism and scrutiny regarding his role as project manager for the PDHQ, as well as his management of the Middlebrook School project.
Last week, Burney shared details on his removal from the PDHQ project by Knickerbocker, which Burney said came without explanation and was never discussed with First Selectman Toni Boucher. Burney said that, while he had offered to stay on and help with the project’s transition, he was asked not to, though he was kept in the town’s employ through the end of the fiscal year working on other things.
In a statement given to GMW on Friday, June 13, Boucher shared some comments about Burney’s role and her decision to reassign management of the project to Pardo.
“On the morning of the first day I took office in the beginning of December 2023, our Police Department came to see me,” Boucher wrote. “I assumed they simply wanted to say hello and wish me well. In fact, they wanted to tell me that the construction of the new police station had ground to a halt and that there were serious issues that needed to be immediately addressed. From that very first morning, I have worked to correct the problems.
“I do not wish to comment extensively on the performance of past or present town employees,” Boucher continued. “I will simply note that Chris Burney was a part-time employee, and we needed a full-time project manager for this construction.”
Burney said that, while he was serving in a part-time capacity prior to the start of construction, it was his understanding that he would return to full-time work when the work started.
“I am pleased to say that we are back on track for the new police station and we are looking forward to its completion,” Boucher said.
Questions still remain, however, regarding exactly how much the project still has in its contingency fund, with the possibility that it could go over-budget.
The BOS is expected to hear more details at its meeting on Tuesday, June 17.
In her email, Vanderslice shared a timeline of the budget, starting in September 2013, when the project was estimated to cost $12,660,000. By February 2020, estimates were updated to between $14 to $17 million, she said.
“The project was put on hold during the pandemic,” Vanderslice said.
“In June 2023, the town received [seven] general contractor bids ranging from $14.973 to $18.775 million,” she said, with the lowest bidder rejected after a “thorough vetting.”
“On Sept. 19, 2023, the second bid of $15,201,000 was accepted … The contract was signed in November, prior to my Nov. 30, 2023, end of term,” Vanderslice said.
With more than $1 million expended prior to the awarding of a construction contract, she said the total budget for the PDHQ project is $18,485,000.