New contractor set to resume reconstruction of Pound Ridge firehouse

By THANE GRAUEL

Three months after the general contractor quit the Pound Ridge firehouse expansion project, work is at a standstill.

But Fire District commissioners said Tuesday a replacement firm might just be days away from taking over the lead role in expanding and upgrading the town’s only firehouse.

The $11 million project already was three months behind when the main contractor left the job. Some work, plumbing, electrical and some masonry, continued, but all work has now been stopped.

That was at the order of the bonding company handling the situation, the commission said Tuesday, when they met for their monthly meeting at the firehouse on Westchester Avenue in Scotts Corners.

They said the job will still be completed by November.

“The attorneys are negotiating a takeover agreement for the contractor that’s coming in to finish the job,” commission member Frank Tavolacci said. “Once that’s signed, which hopefully will be in the next couple of days, the new contractor will be scheduled to come on-site and finish for us.”

“Whether that happens in a week, or two weeks, I don’t know,” he said. “When lawyers get a hold of things, it could take some time.”

The original completion target was June. “It’s probably looking like November,” Tavolacci said.

Other commission members said remaining contractors continued working as long as they could, but could only go so far.

“The main contractor walking off the job is delaying the subcontractors,” one said.

The bonding company hires the replacement contractor, they said, and any extra costs related to the turnover should be covered by it.

The situation was discussed three months ago by the Pound Ridge Town Board, when  Board of Fire Commissioners Chairman Peter Gallagher gave members an update.

“We’re looking at weeks rather than months,” he said of a replacement contractor at the time. “But we’ll see. We haven’t gotten hard commitments yet.”

The public approved a $6.5 million bond for the project in December 2023. In April 2025, the public approved another $3.5 million the fire district requested. Additional funds were to be covered by the department’s reserve.

The town does not run the Fire Department; the fire district is a separate entity, funded by taxes from property owners. 

Gallagher said at the January Town Board meeting the project was already three months behind. He cited tensions with the construction management outfit, which was overseeing the whole project. He said then it was 35% to 40% complete.

Gallagher also said at the meeting that each of the main contractors is bonded when working on a public project, so if they are unable to fulfill their duties, the agency that hired them is covered by insurance. If the work continues at something above the bid price, the insurance, not taxpayers, must make up the difference.