AMHERST — In September 2022, the Town Council committed to keeping the $46.1 million project to modernize and expand the Jones Library going, at least until it reached the construction bid stage.

For Amherst resident Toni Cunningham, that decision represented a $2 million or so gamble, the cost of continuing to pay fees to Finegold Alexander Architects and owner’s project manager Colliers International, so that town officials could see what price a contractor would put on the project.

“We now know that bet has not paid off,” Cunningham told the Town Council on Monday, the first meeting after the lone bid from Fontaine Brothers of Springfield was opened Friday, $7.2 million above the $35.5 million cost estimates for construction and, when factoring in soft costs such as furnishings, driving the full project cost into the $55 million range.

Cunningham was one of several residents who spoke both virtually and in person at Town Hall during public comment to appeal to the elected officials to scrap the project that would enlarge the 43 Amity St. building, first opened in 1928, from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet. Such a project would not only ensure a dedicated teen room, more space for the English as a Second Language program and an enlarged special collections, with room to display the town’s Civil War tablets, but also would make needed upgrades and renovations to the heating, cooling and ventilation systems.

With the library project not on the agenda and with no decisions to be made by the Town Council, Town Manager Paul Bockelman cautioned that the problems that have plagued the building, from a leaking atrium roof to deteriorating electrical systems, will continue. The town, he said, may need fiscal discipline as it spends the next 30 days examining the bid, learning more about what is driving the number, and figure out how to proceed.

Bockelman said there will be conversations with the elected Jones library trustees, Library Director Sharon Sharry, and Bob Pereint, special capital projects coordinator, and those who are handling the capital campaign that remained about $7 million short of the money needed, even before the bid came in.

While not ready to accept or reject the bid, he said there are challenges.

“There are not a lot of options,” Bockelman said. “We can reduce the budget. We can increase revenue.”

When councilors gave the go-ahead to keep the project on track, they understood the inflationary pressures and the tough bidding environment, but feared relinquishing the grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which was initially $13.8 million and has increased by $1.69 million due to the pandemic. Councilors also saw the library as one of four projects: the new elementary school under construction at the site of Fort River School on South East Street, and the anticipated renovated Department of Public Works headquarters and new fire station for South Amherst.

Bockelman said Tuesday that he had hoped for better market conditions, and having multiple bids from which to choose, adding that two professionals provided similar cost estimates.

“It was demoralizing to get just one bid, and for it to be significantly higher than estimates,” Bockelman said.

Still, there is the possibility of developing alternatives that could be presented to the trustees.

Bob Pam, who has served as the treasurer for the elected trustees, said the cost is likely to end the project. But Pam, who is leaving town later this spring and will be stepping down from his position, said the trustees should be able to move quickly and expeditiously on renovations and needed fixes.

In a similar vein, Ken Rosenthal of Sunset Avenue, who brings experience from nonprofit fundraising and served as interim president at Hampshire College, said officials should work with those who have pledged money and transfer that toward the building improvements.

Maria Kopicki of South Amherst said she is concerned that the bid even exceeded the “value engineered” project that the Town Council authorized in December. “It’s time to read the writing on the wall,” Kopicki said.

Even though the project got nearly two-thirds support from a referendum in November 2021, resident Vincent O’Connor said that was a different, $36.3 million project that had already gotten more expensive. He suggested that councilors “pull the plug” on the spending.

“This is not a time for desperate measures, but a time for sound decision-making,” O’Connor said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.