Rising costs could alter Rehoboth Beach Patrol project

Just months into construction, cost increases for the Rehoboth Beach Patrol/public restroom construction project at the eastern end of Baltimore Avenue could lead to design changes. The extent of each is unknown, but both will be discussed during a commissioner workshop July 8.

Without going into specifics, City Manager Taylour Tedder announced the increase in costs and possible design changes during the city manager update of a June 21 meeting. He said the construction team will make a presentation to commissioners at a future workshop.

J.D. Bartlett, project manager for the city’s construction management firm EDiS, will talk about hurdles with the project, the schedule moving forward, and some change orders and related costs, said Tedder. Payton Bridge, an architect for Davis, Bowen & Friedel, will also be on hand to discuss design changes to the facility, he said.

Tedder’s announcement came at the same meeting commissioners approved a 29% increase to property taxes. The increased cost to the beach patrol project was one of the reasons commissioners ultimately voted in favor of the tax increase.

Following the meeting, Lynne Coan, city spokesperson, said the specifics would not be available until the Monday, July 8 meeting. The information is being put together for commissioners and the city is not yet ready to discuss the details, she said.

The agenda for the July 8 workshop was posted to the city’s website July 1, but with little information on the issues facing the beach patrol project.

The agenda notice says, “Presentation on the status of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol/restroom facility project, including change orders and impacts to the project schedule, and the temporary restroom facilities located at Lake Avenue on the Boardwalk.”

Commissioners awarded a $4.9 million contract for a new beach patrol/restroom facility to Delmarva Veteran Builders in August 2023. Demolition of the old building was expected to take place soon after Labor Day last year. However, it was brought to the attention of city officials that they weren’t following procedures laid out in the city charter and state code related to the abandonment of a public street – the city needed about 65 feet of the easternmost section of Baltimore Avenue for the project.

The city charter requires a public hearing for the abandonment of a section of street. Commissioners set a public hearing for late September, only to find out the day before the hearing that state code required the planning commission to issue a report before the public hearing could be held. The planning commission issued that report in early November; the required public hearing was conducted a couple of weeks later.

This nearly two-month delay is the reason why construction is occurring through the summer and why there are temporary restrooms set up on the north end of the Boardwalk, near the One Virginia condominiums. The original construction timeline had the first-floor restrooms done by Memorial Day, a break during the summer, then construction resuming after Labor Day.

The procedural delay was just the first. It took months to prepare the site for demolition, but the old beach patrol building was finally demolished in February. A couple of months after that, in late April, the city announced more delays because the contractor was having trouble driving piles to desired depths due to buried debris and soil that was harder than expected. This led to more delays while the city waited for soil borings to be evaluated and other equipment to be brought in.