The Department of Public Works recommended repairs to sewer manholes in conjunction with the roadwork being done on Hayden Rowe Street for the Charleswood School project.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Elementary School Building Committee (ESBC) gave its approval by consensus to the idea, agreeing the time to address it is now rather than later.

Chris Kenney, project manager from Vertex, spoke about the work in detail, saying it would involve removing the cast and masonry to a “clean solid base upon which clay bricks may be set” to rebuild the structure.

The next step would be to rebuild the masonry to grade using clay sewer brick. Then new frames and covers would be installed, supplied by the DPW to grade with a concrete collar.

This work represents a change to the scope of Lynch Construction Company’s contract and an additional cost for roadwork.

Vertex will get a cost proposal from the roadwork contractor and bring it back to the committee for review at a future meeting.

Kenney explained that DPW director Kerry Reed told him that issues were discovered elsewhere in town involving deterioration of manholes, and the remediation work is to be done town-wide.

ESBC chair Jon Graziano said from a “logic and efficiency” standpoint, it makes sense to do the manhole covers now rather than later after the road has been repaved and would have to be dug up again.

“It puts cost to the project, but this will incur at a higher cost in the future,” Graziano said.

At the last meeting, the ESBC advised Vertex to seek proposals for a resident (civil) engineer to oversee the roadwork construction, also requested by Reed.

Committee members wanted an engineer on site unaffiliated with the design.

Kenney reported that Vertex received proposals from Howard Stein Hudson, Beta and Nitsch, with a final due date of Feb. 2. Following Vertex’s review of the proposals, a recommendation will be made at the Feb. 17 ESBC meeting.

The committee also approved invoices totaling $6,647,924, with the majority of that from Brait Builders ($6.4 million) and the rest from Vertex ($119,948) and architect Perkins Eastman ($108,054).

Regarding the budget, Kenney noted $121,332,900 (76.6%) has been committed to date from the project’s $158 million budget. Expended so far has been $34,549,751 (28%).

Perkins Eastman is at $8,789,277, which is 72% of its contract value, while Vertex has expended $1,665,496 (36.22%). Brait Builders has billed for $23,383,190, which is 22.85% of its construction contract.

Bills for roadwork charges to date amount to $1,415,224 (2.1%).

Kenney also told the board that Vertex is anticipating a full building permit to be issued by the inspector. He said a full permit is needed to proceed beyond foundation and structure work into the enclosure and utilities in the building.

While the OPM is making “headway” in this process, he said it will present more difficulty if the permit is not released soon.

Graziano said he would check with the inspector’s office about the status.