Whitman DPW Building Committee Approves $296K in Payments, $60K OPM Extension

WHITMAN — October 27, 2025 — Whitman's DPW Building Committee approved $296,264 in vendor payments and a $60,000 supplemental fee to its owner's project manager at the October 27 meeting. The largest single payment was $229,815.41 to Page Building Construction, the general contractor, with additional payments to Dell Technologies, WB Mason, Sweezy Fence Erectors, and six other vendors. The $60,000 fee went to CMS Construction Monitoring Services to cover two months of extended construction oversight — July and August — billed at a reduced rate of $30,000 per month against a contract originally scoped for 14 months at $35,000 per month. One committee member initially pushed back, saying the request lacked itemized hour backup and should have been raised sooner, but said CMS's explanation that the billed months covered peak construction activity gave sufficient comfort to approve. Outstanding items before final payment include a roof leak near the building entrance, a driveway drainage problem, unresolved HVAC desktop controls, and incomplete closeout documentation including as-built drawings and certified payrolls — with approximately $63,000 in open contract work and $16,000 in retainage still to be disbursed.