North Stonington — An architect out of Mystic will take on the project manager role for the new emergency services building in July, laying to rest a weeks-long debate.

The Board of Selectmen last week voted 2-1 to allow Peter Springsteel to combine the roles of owner's representative — which he's been performing since the beginning stages of the project — and project manager, contingent upon Springsteel's agreement to a slight modification in the job description he created.

Springsteel, who received and agreed to the new terms Wednesday, wrote in a May 4 proposal that he expects the job to last from about July 1 this year until the same date next year. In the same proposal, signed by First Selectman Nick Mullane Wednesday morning, Springsteel asked to be paid $125 per hour and to work about eight hours a week. The amount the town pays Springsteel can't exceed $52,000 without town authorization.

Some of the 14 responsibilities Springsteel outlined include tracking expenses, ensuring construction stays on schedule and coordinating the efforts of all parties involved in the project.

The selectmen only made a change to the latter responsibility, removing subcontractors and laborers from the list of involved parties and adding the phrase "but not limited to."

Springsteel said Wednesday he's "happy" to take on the new role.

"It's really nothing new," he said. "It's a continuation of what I've been doing."

First Selectman Nick Mullane, however, quietly cast the only nay vote after echoing cost and coverage concerns he and the entire board have expressed for weeks.

If the positions are combined, Mullane said, problems that likely would be addressed with a clerk of the works, a project manager and an owner's representative working together might fall through the cracks. And, he added, advertising for a package deal clerk of the works and project manager might have been cheaper than paying Springsteel and an independent clerk of the works.

But members of the Emergency Services Building Committee April 28 said Springsteel is capable, and bringing a new project manager up to speed could take longer and ultimately cost more.

As a result, the town about three weeks ago sent out a bid for a lone clerk of the works, which closed Wednesday at noon. As of Tuesday night, there were two bidders.

Via phone last Friday, Mullane cited an issue that recently arose, in which some forms sent to the USDA were filled out incorrectly or incompletely, as one that wouldn't have happened had there been a separate project manager the whole time. The USDA, whose Rural Development loan program is financing the project, regularly keeps tabs of projects' progress.

Norman St. Jean, a local USDA loan specialist, couldn't be reached to explain the issue. But Springsteel said last week it was regarding a monthly report that accounts for the project budget and includes specific line items.

"The bookkeeper didn't know how to fill it out ... so I'll be filling it out now," Springsteel said, referring to town bookkeeper Susan Henderson.

Mullane, however, said the forms never should've been in Henderson's possession.

"When I said the town would handle the financials, I meant paying the bills, borrowing the money," Mullane said. "We're not going to be responsible for (the reports) because we don't understand nor do we generate the data."

Springsteel, who was not delegated the task of filling out the forms previously, said the report "got handed to" Henderson. He said he's filled out many such forms in the past and doesn't mind doing so again.

"It's not an earth-shattering problem," Springsteel said.

The Emergency Services Building Committee March 30 approved the final layout plan for the new $6.36 million emergency services building, which was approved by voters in 2013. The Board of Selectmen Tuesday night still expected to go out to bid for a construction engineer in early June.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle