Costs on rise for Hoffman Village Hall remodeling
The remodeling of Hoffman Estates Village Hall will cost more than planned and there's talk of scaling it back.
Having already spent the original contingency amount of $277,200, the village board Monday approved spending up to an additional $372,000 for the project.
"When you are doing a remodel vs. building from scratch, when you open the roof and you open the walls, sometimes you find things that aren't up to code," Village Manager James Norris said.
The new contingency will cover costs such as $20,000 for replacing fire sprinklers components, $50,000 for security system components and $40,000 for wall tile and planters.
Officials hope for a November completion.
Deputy Village Manager Dan O'Malley cited unforeseen factors, including a number of electrical problems, as reasons for the increased cost. A memo he prepared for trustees also listed code compliance issues like fire sprinklers, plumbing and mechanical requirements among the reasons for costs increases.
Initially the village board budgeted a $277,200 construction contingency, or 6 percent above the roughly $4.6 million construction contract amount.
Other budgeted costs for the project include a $25,000 fountain and $10,000 bronze dedication plaque.
O'Malley said those dollar figures don't represent the actual costs of the items. He said he will present the board options that include a variety of plaques of different qualities and prices, for example.
"Hopefully we won't go over cost," he said.
O'Malley said the increased contingencies might also mean the board forgoes the remodeling of the village hall boardroom, which has already been delayed.
After crews finish the rest of village hall, the board will need to determine if there's money left for the boardroom, O'Malley said. The board allotted $6.2 million for the entire village hall renovation.
The $372,000 amount represents about a 14 percent contingency over the base construction contract price quoted in December 2007 by Hinsdale's CMM Group Inc. O'Malley's memo also states that the industry standard for projects like the village hall remodeling is a 15 to 20 percent contingency.
"We tried to complete this project (with a smaller contingency). However we ran into construction issues that necessitate the increase," his memo reads.
The projected overall cost of the village hall project was about $6.25 million. That money came from two bond issues totaling $54.9 million and which are also paying for the land and construction of a new police station, a new fire station and a water tank.