As The Valley Reporter goes to press on July 22, the Waitsfield Select Board is meeting on next steps for plans to build a new town garage at the site of the current town garage, off Tremblay Road. The town plans to ask voters to approve a bond vote for a new garage in November.
That Tremblay Road site is on land that served as Waitsfield’s municipal landfill from approximately 1958 until 1970. That may necessitate further environmental testing and potential remediation costs. A Phase I environmental review completed in June identified several environmental concerns that cannot be resolved without drilling, sampling and subsurface testing.
At its July 22 meeting, the board is expected to consider spending up to $30,915 for a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment at the proposed Charlie Goodman III Town Garage site on Tremblay Road. The investigation will determine whether contamination or buried landfill material exists beneath the footprint of the planned building before the town asks voters to approve a construction bond.
Town administrator York Haverkamp said this Phase II study is intended to answer questions, not solve them.
SOLUTION
"This $30,915 buys information, not a solution," Haverkamp wrote in his town administrator’s report. "If the investigation finds contamination that has to be addressed, remediation is a separate cost that is not funded today and not yet estimable."
The proposed testing would determine whether landfill waste lies beneath the future building, whether landfill gases are present, whether decades of highway department operations contaminated soil beneath the existing garage and whether PFAS contamination may have resulted from a fire that destroyed part of the building in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Investigators will also attempt to determine where an existing floor drain discharges, locate any former septic system or dry well and complete an asbestos survey before demolition.
Haverkamp said the findings could range from no significant issues to contamination requiring formal cleanup.
Authorizing the environmental work now, he said, will keep the town on schedule for site work in 2027 if voters approve the project.
PROJECT COSTS
Environmental testing represents one part of the estimated $4.25 million construction cost of the project.
The board is also expected to authorize an architectural and engineering agreement with MH2 Architecture Studio for the remaining design work. The proposed contract carries an architectural and engineering fee equal to 8% of estimated construction costs, or $340,080, plus $8,240 for an updated site survey and materials supporting a future bond vote, bringing the total design contract to $348,320.
The 8% fee includes architectural services along with structural, civil, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering.
Haverkamp noted that the design fee is based on an April construction estimate prepared before the town selects a construction manager. Once that manager develops a more refined estimate, the town could revisit the fee if projected construction costs change. The current estimate will also remain subject to whatever environmental conditions are discovered beneath the site.
Until subsurface testing is complete, Haverkamp said, the town cannot accurately determine what the site will cost to build on or establish a final construction number for voters to consider in a bond referendum.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
The board is also expected to select a construction manager from among five Vermont firms.
Connor Contracting, DEW Construction, E.F. Wall & Associates, ReArch Construction and Stewart Construction all submitted proposals after the town requested supplemental qualifications and fee information.
Construction management fees varied considerably, ranging from 1.75% of construction costs for DEW to 7.5% for E.F. Wall.
After adjusting proposals to account for differing assumptions regarding insurance, bonding and overhead, town staff concluded that DEW, ReArch and Stewart clustered closely together on overall cost, while Connor ranked somewhat higher and E.F. Wall considerably higher.
In addition to price, officials are evaluating each firm's municipal garage experience, proposed project team, availability during the 2027 construction season and approach to contingencies and change orders.
CONTINUITY
Plans to engineer and bond for a new town garage were disrupted earlier this year when Bread Loaf Corp. of Middlebury, the architectural firm originally selected for the garage project, closed its doors.
Rather than restarting the design process, Waitsfield continued working with Bread Loaf architects Mitch Hager and Michael Housley after they established MH2 Architecture Studio.
The decision preserved months of planning work and avoided delaying the project.
"We have reached the point of formalizing our continued work with MH2 Architecture Studio on the Town Garage," Haverkamp wrote. "Mitch Hager and Michael Housley know this project well, having worked it under BreadLoaf, and MH2 gives us good continuity as we head toward the bond vote and into design."
Bread Loaf was chosen in late 2025 after the town sought proposals for preliminary engineering and conceptual design of a replacement highway garage. The firm's initial work produced the conceptual plans and construction estimate that continue to serve as the foundation for the project.
If the board authorizes the environmental assessment, approves the MH2 contract and selects a construction manager this week, the project will move into its final pre-bond phase.
Additional environmental information, refined construction estimates and final design work are expected to shape a bond proposal later this year, with construction targeted to begin in 2027 if voters approve the project.
