ERVING — Town officials are seeking an explanation from engineering consulting firm Tighe & Bond regarding what they say is a $200,000 discrepancy in cost estimates for demolition of the vacant International Paper Mill.

Out of four possible demolition concepts of varying levels that were presented by Town Planner Mariah Kurtz at a Feb. 27 Selectboard meeting, three estimates surged beyond the initial $1.8 million price tag shared in late January. A total demolition of all structures on the 8 Papermill Road property is expected to cost more than $4 million. This week, Kurtz said she then added together the costs of demolishing each of the complex’s eight buildings and reached a sum that was $200,000 less than the collective estimate given by Tighe & Bond. Kurtz noted she did the same for an estimate given in 2017 and arrived at a total that was $10,000 short of Tighe & Bond’s calculations.

“My concern is, if we’re paying them money for a study, why are their numbers not matching up? There might be something behind that that I’m not seeing because I don’t have access to their spreadsheets that they’re using, but the whole point of paying them for a study is that their numbers are correct,” Kurtz reasoned at Monday’s Selectboard meeting. “I already caught one mistake and had them go back and correct it, so if there are more mistakes … I feel confused as to why they’re charging us money to give us results that aren’t accurate.”

“We contracted Tighe & Bond to do a substantial amount of work for the town of Erving,” Selectboard member Scott Bastarache said in agreement. “To get a product — at a hefty fee, at times — that has unreliable information is concerning.”

The town has a $600,000 Site Readiness grant from MassDevelopment and would have to fund the rest of the demolition itself.

Speaking during Monday’s meeting, Selectboard member William Bembury said he’s “not too hung up on” the discrepancy between estimates, reasoning that when finalized proposals come in, they will likely be considerably higher than what Erving budgeted for regardless. Kurtz responded by projecting that a major difference could sway prospective contractors.

“I do think that when we put this out to bid for a contractor,” she said, “a swing of $200,000 is substantial.”

Kurtz said she met with Tighe & Bond to discuss the discrepancy on Tuesday. At the meeting, representatives said they would take Kurtz’s findings, review them and get back in touch.

Attempts to reach Tighe & Bond for further comment on the matter were unsuccessful this week.

Kurtz noted she also asked Tighe & Bond to break down “what their engineering fee includes, what is legally required and “what is helpful or a best practice, but ultimately negotiable.” In addition, Kurtz requested examples of other demolition projects that Tighe & Bond has completed, what their opinion of probable cost was and what the final price ended up being. Lastly, Kurtz anticipates Erving will receive a proposal for sampling the roofs of the buildings for hazardous materials.

“There are, without a doubt, parts of this project [that] will require engineering assistance. We just want to make sure we’re clear on which parts those are,” Kurtz wrote in an email. “Tighe & Bond has done a lot of work for us over the years — on this project and others — and we have great working relationships with many of their project managers. However, towns pay engineers a lot of money and it’s our job to complete our due diligence on behalf of our residents to make sure that we are responsibly spending money.”

The property, valued at nearly $1.49 million between the land and buildings, has sat vacant for two decades. After a century that saw eight buildings built from 1902 to 2000, International Paper “suddenly shuttered the mill” before selling it to a private developer “who left the complex vacant and delinquent on property taxes,” Kurtz said previously.

The town took control of the property in 2014 and conducted feasibility studies and evaluations regarding the property’s future before eventually issuing a formal request for interest in fall 2021. A request for proposals was then released in March 2022, but closed without success.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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