EPCAL Fields: $72k Change Order Raises Questions; Bleachers on the Way

With EPCAL's new ballfields set to open to the public at the end of the month, town leaders said last week that one last addition coming prior to opening day will be new bleachers – though late cost additions will leave just about $30,000 in a fund that had about $850,000 in it four years ago.

Town board members spoke about the project at last week's work session with the April 27 grand opening date just weeks away.

While late costs to finalize the project such as irrigation upgrades and bleachers will total about $95,000, a decision to add another two inches of bluestone in warning tracks around the fields should add another $75,000 to the cost of the project – though what's left of the material will be of use to the town's Buildings and Grounds Department.

The blue stone change order – after two months of negotiations with the contractor, according to project engineer Vincent Gaudiello of the Raynor Group – resulted in a conversation about the town's change order policy, which Town Engineer Ken Testa said was "never formalized." Supervisor Sean Walter noted that a proposal should be given to the board for review.

Gaudiello said that after examining the earth at the ballfields, it was determined that puddling in the warning tracks could easily accumulate if more stone wasn't placed down.

Councilman George Gabrielsen – the recreation committee liaison who has been leading the project to open the fields – said that the board was aware that more stone would be needed to support the tracks, and further discussion will likely be held to formalize the change order process.

In the grand scheme of the project – three percent of a $2.5 million build-up from start to finish – Gabrielsen said that as long as the finished product is done right, that's what matters most as it opens up to the public.

"Maybe they should have updated us more often about what was going on dollar-wise," he said. But certain things, you just can't say, 'Don't do it,'" he said.

In addition to work at the Calverton fields which has been needed to open them up – including parking lot paving, striping along Route 25 and more work – new sod and grading was paid for at Stotzky Park out of a reserved parks and recreation fund, which comes from impact fees paid for by real estate subdivisions.