On schedule, under budget

Port Washington’s public safety building at the corner of highways 33 and LL on the city’s west side is proceeding on schedule and under budget, the Common Council learned Tuesday.

“I have good news,” Project Manager Maura Riordan of M-C Group told aldermen.

Of the $31.9 million total budget, she said, $1.7 million is unallocated, and the construction is expected to come in $313,000 below budget.

“We’re well positioned to deliver the project on budget,” Riordan said.

She credited “competitive bidding, disciplined change management and coordination among the project team for limiting cost overruns  and preserving the contingency funds.

“From the beginning there was a very clear vision stated,” she said.

The building is also on schedule, Riordan said, adding that work is on track to be primarily complete by July 4.

After that, she said, police and fire departments “are going to be moving in, hopefully.”

More than 100,000 work hours have been completed without a recorded safety incident, Riordan said.

“That’s very impressive,” she said.

By the end of May, she said, final grading and paving should be completed, with landscaping installed by the end of June.

Riordan said the masonry and roofing are complete, and the drywall, ceilings, finishes, casework and mechanical, electrical and plumbing work have been completed in the police station and are underway in the common areas and fire department garage.

The elevator is being installed, and finish grading is underway.

In the next 30 days, she said, the drywall, ceilings, finishes, casework and mechanical, electrical and plumbing work in the common areas and the fire department garage should be completed, finish grading and site work should be done and equipment start up and testing should be underway.

The police and fire departments are already planning their moves to the new building, something that should occur over the summer, Riordan said.

“It’s very impressive,” Ald. Dan Benning said, noting he views the work daily from his job at Eernisse Funeral Home next door to the site. “I think it’s going to be key to recruitment and retaining staff.”

Mayor Ted Neitzke asked Riordan to prepare a list of the life expectancy of the items in the safety building so future officials can plan for the proper maintenance and replacement of systems.

That, he said, could extend the building’s overall life expectancy of 50 years to 100 years.

Hand in hand with the report, aldermen approved a quit claim deed with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that gives the city the right to access the public safety building from both highways LL and 33.

In return for the deed, the city is paying the DOT the $12,500 the state spent to appraise the property, Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said.

That, he noted, is far less than the $210,000 the city had budgeted for the access.

The city also agreed to install a left-turn lane on eastbound Highway 33, a project that will be done this summer when the DOT resurfaces the highway, Vanden Noven said.

Neitzke asked if the city had considered adding a traffic light to the Highway LL access, which will be used by fire trucks heading out of the new building.

Vanden Noven said that had been considered but fire department officials did not think it was needed since the trucks will activate their lights and sirens when leaving the station and “especially given the (low) amount of traffic on Highway LL.”