The concerns
of environmental faculty at this point were primarily that proper erosion control
procedures be implemented during construction, that
appropriate regulatory procedures be followed (the site
required a Notice of Intent and oversight by the
Conservation Commission), that endangered species habitat
not be disturbed (i.e., the college comply with the
regulations of the Wetlands Protection Act), and that the
college understood that the environmental faculty were
available as a resource. What the faculty didn't know
at this point was that the project was more complicated than
they were led to believe
.
On March 10 of
2000, five days before Mr. Mitchell's site visit,
the contract had been put out to bid. This contract
specified fill, loam, limestone, fertilizer, and
herbicide. The college disclosed none of this in
the RDA submitted to the Conservation Commission,
nor did they disclose this to their own
environmental faculty. On March 31 the bids were
opened. There were two bidders. Sommer Electric
received the contract. Just three months
after the modest proposal, estimated to cost just
$35,000, the project had grown to be a $176,650
project.
... and grown
again.
According to the
college's Dean of Administration and Finance, the
final cost of the project was $343,100.79.
