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The following response was received on March 6, 2012 from James Rodger, current Allenstown Sewer Commissioner. It appears to be an e-mail from Mike Trainque of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates to James Rodger in response to an article from March 1, 2011[?] in the Union Leader.

Well, to answer your question, I think the most recent article that was published in the Union Leader on Tuesday, March 1 was probably the most troublesome as it contained many inaccuracies from start to finish. First of all, there is no “$ 1.26 million cost overrun” on this project. The final project costs are as follows:

Original warrant article (2009): $ 1,625,000

Current (2011) warrant article: $ 360,108

Therefore, the total (FINAL) project cost is $ 1,985,108. There are no “additional” or “surprise” costs as reported in the latest article. The additional project cost is $ 360,108, period, as presented to the Selectmen 3 months ago. This has not changed and will never change. Any internal costs for process equipment that are being borne by the equipment vendor were taken off the table a long time ago, before the project was ever bid for construction. As such, these costs are simply not relevant to the Town of Allenstown – period. The costs that are relevant to Allenstown are listed above. These are the FINAL costs for the project.

The construction change order that was presented to the Board of Selectmen this past Monday night was fully accounted for within the $ 360,108 that is on the warrant for Town Meeting and is NOT the “latest cost overrun” as presented in the recent article. That is blatantly false and totally inaccurate. In fact, ALL construction change orders for this project are FULLY accounted for within the $ 360,108 warrant article. There are no “additional” or “surprise” costs to be added to that and there never will be. The purpose of the change order that was presented to the Board of Selectmen this was to formally incorporate some of the construction changes into the contractor’s construction contract. Again, these are not “new” costs. These costs are part of the $ 360,108 that was presented to the Board of Selectmen 3 months ago.

As stated in the article that I sent you this week, the unfortunate part of all the misinformation being bandied about that is missing from the publicity is that this is a state-of-the-art, first of its kind, upgrade to the existing wastewater treatment facility that will provide significant benefit to both the Towns of Allenstown and Pembroke and, ultimately, free the two towns from the sewer connection moratorium that is currently in place. Given the fact that this project is fully funded without any financial impact on the taxpayers or the sewer users of Allenstown combined with the technological advances and the successful completion of construction make this a highly successful project that the Town of Allenstown can be very proud of for many years to come.

One would hope that a more accurate portrayal of this project would get to the citizens and residents of Allenstown. They certainly deserve nothing less.

Thank you,

Mike

Michael A. Trainque, P.E.
Vice President
Environmental Services Group
HOYLE, TANNER & ASSOCIATES, INC.
mtrainque@hoyletanner.com