Any Town board, commission, or other agency intending to seek funds for the construction, alteration or repair of a Town building or structure (a project) shall notify the Commission of its intention to do so. The Town agency for whose use the building is proposed is hereinafter referred to as the "using agency." Upon receipt of such notice from the using agency, the Building Commission shall decide whether or not the project shall be carried out in its charge. If the Commission declines to take charge of the project, the using agency may, subject to the Select Board's approval and the appropriation of funds, carry out the project in its charge without regard to the following provisions of this chapter. If the Commission decides to take charge, the using agency may appeal its decision to the Select Board, which shall make the final decision on the matter. In deciding whether or not the Commission shall take charge of the project, the Commission, and the Select Board if appealed to, shall consider the size, cost, and complexity of the project and the personnel and experience of the using agency, it being the intent hereof that all but those projects clearly within the competence of the using agency to administer will be placed in the Commission's charge. Any project in the Commission's charge shall be carried out in the following steps unless waived by the Select Board as hereinafter provided:
A. Step 1: The using agency shall formulate a program, in writing, for the facility, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, the function and needs which it is designed to fulfill, expanded services, auxiliary public use, additional personnel required to maintain the facility, annual maintenance costs, expected hours of the facility's availability, environmental and sustainability goals and objectives, and overall effect on the Town, all as appropriate for the project's scope and budget. Environmental and sustainability goals and objectives include design and construction practices that explicitly consider green technologies, site selection, waste minimization, energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environmental quality, and other environmental and health factors that may provide financial, environmental, and occupant health and productivity benefits. In formulating such a program, the using agency, after consultation with the Commission and other agencies or authorities of the Town having an interest in the use or development of the facility, shall prepare tentative size and cost requirements of the facility to accommodate such a program. Upon receipt of the program prepared by the using agency, the Commission shall decide if the Town should hire a consultant for the work described in Step 2. If it decides against engaging such a consultant, it will, with the approval of the Select Board and after an appropriation has been authorized by the Town Meeting, proceed with the project, and without regard to the following provisions of this section. If the Commission decides to engage such consultant, the Commission shall proceed to Step 2.
B. Step 2: The Commission shall notify the using agency of its decision to engage a consultant. The using agency shall request that the Town Meeting appropriate funds for the purpose of compensating a consultant for the preparation of a feasibility study for the project, schematic design studies for the project, a cost estimate for the project (including life-cycle costs), and any special studies which the Commission and the using agency jointly recommend. The work of the consultant shall consider the investigation, cost-benefit analysis, and recommendation of appropriate options that address the environmental and sustainability goals and objectives outlined in Subsection
A above. Upon the appropriation of such funds, the consultant shall be selected in accordance with Step 3.
C. Step 3: The Select Board shall appoint a committee of seven members (the "Committee"), of whom three shall be designated by and be members of the Commission and three shall be designated by and be members of the using agency. One member shall be designated by the Select Board, who shall serve as Chair. The Committee shall meet promptly after it is appointed and proceed with the selection of a consultant in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Commission under Section
3.7.1 of this chapter. Having made its selection in accordance with such procedures, the Committee shall report its selection to the Commission, the using agency, and the Select Board; and the Select Board shall thereupon discharge the Committee. The Commission shall then negotiate, on the Town's behalf, a contract with the selected consultant, which shall be divided into three discrete phases of work: The first phase shall include those services for which the Town Meeting appropriated funds under Step 2; the second phase shall include services necessary or appropriate to develop the design of the project to the point where bids can be received for the construction of the project; and the third phase shall include the administration of the construction contract. The contract shall provide for termination at will by the Town at the end of each of the phases and shall provide that the parties will not proceed to the second phase or third phase without further appropriations by Town Meeting, as described in Step 4 and Step 5. The contract shall be subject to the Select Board's approval.
D. Step 4: When the first phase of work has been completed and approved by the using agency, the Commission shall present the consultant's report to the Town Meeting. On the basis of the consultant's report, the using agency may request that the Town Meeting appropriate funds necessary to compensate the consultant for the second phase under the consultant's contract. Alternatively, the Commission or the using agency may recommend that the contract be terminated and that a new consultant be appointed to carry the work forward. In the latter case, the new consultant shall be selected in accordance with the procedures set forth in Step 3.
E. Step 5: When the second phase of work has been completed and approved by the using agency, the Commission shall, on behalf of the Town, submit the project as designed to bid in accordance with all applicable statutes and other requirements. Upon receipt of bids, the Commission, in consultation with the using agency, shall decide whether they are acceptable to it. If such bids are acceptable to the Commission and the using agency, the using agency shall then request that the Town Meeting appropriate funds for the construction of the project and to compensate the consultant under the third phase of the consultant's contract. The using agency shall at the same time request the appropriation of funds for equipping and furnishing the project, providing the Town Meeting with a detailed estimate for such furniture and equipment, and funds for any other additional expenses to the Town estimated to be incurred when the facility becomes operational.