SILER CITY — A newly-constituted board of commissioners on Monday vented to contractors and architects about delays in the city hall renovation project.
“Let’s suffice it to say that there’s not a lot of tolerance left on the board’s patience for this project,” newly-elected Mayor Chip Price said during the meeting.
Taylor Hobbs of Hobbs Architects in Pittsboro and Isaac Ellington of Ellington Contracting in Siler City provided an update to the board about the renovation, which began in January 2020. The project was originally slated to be completed nearly four months ago — Feb. 12 was the original deadline — but delays in receiving equipment and materials have since pushed the date to July 18.
Hobbs said the construction team identified water leaks during recent heavy rains which need resolved.
“We think that the gutters were full and they have a way to actually water get in behind that wood soffit, get into the wall cavity itself and run all the way down to the basement,” Hobbs told commissioners.
Commissioner Lewis Fadely, who won reelection to his seat on May 17, expressed concern over the wall cavity leaks and expressed worry the damage was worse than it appears. Hobbs indicated the structural engineer on the project didn’t believe the leak caused structural damage.
Commissioners also expressed concern about the lack of updates they’d received throughout the project’s duration. Price said on some of his visits, no construction workers were on site.
“So someone needs to explain,” he said.
Ellington and Hobbs cited wait times for equipment and materials for the renovations, particularly with its HVAC systems.
“Why wasn’t it done right the first time, and why did it take so long to have to redo what should have been done right the first time?” Fadely asked. “You’re in charge of the project, and you have notice of what the requirements are supposed to be.”
The delay in the project wasn’t the only unexpected news the board got. Siler City Finance Director Tina Stroupe said the project would exceed its $717,000 budget and would instead cost around $1 million.
Commissioners were irked at the increase, but even more upset they weren’t told about the overruns before Monday.
“I don’t recall ever hearing before today that it was just going to be pushing a million dollar project,” Fadely said.
Newly-appointed Mayor Pro Tem Bill Haiges said he believed a lot of the frustration wouldn’t have happened had the board received more frequent updates about the project’s status.
“Everybody is anxious to get this done,” Haiges said, “Had we gotten regular updates, we wouldn’t be sitting here having to have this conversation.”
Fadely echoed Haiges, saying he felt the board needed to enforce communication if the town manager or town staff needed to make a change that would impact the cost and duration of the rest of the renovations.
“It’s extremely frustrating that this is the hub of our town, and we get hit with questions, and we can’t give the public answers,” Fadely said. “We got these great big smiles on our faces last summer when it was presented; we approved it. We loved it … We had a budget, we could work and we had a plan. Now, we’re all extremely frustrated.”
Reporter Taylor Heeden can be reached at theeden@chathamnr.com and on Twitter at @HeedenTaylor.