North Stonington — Phase one of the new $6.36 million emergency services building, approved by voters in 2013, is coming to a close, which means the project needs a clerk of the works to take on phase two.

But, though five applicants had responded by the time the job opening for the position closed May 20, the Emergency Services Building Committee has yet to recommend one — a step that must occur before the Board of Selectmen chooses an applicant.

Unless a better offer comes along, the project will be financed by the USDA's Rural Development loan program, which means the town must follow the department's rules.

Among those, USDA area loan specialist Norman St. Jean said, is a stipulation that people hired to work on the project can't be included in its budget if they're also town employees.

"It's conflict of interest," he explained.

As a result, the town now will have to find an alternate way to fund the work of part-time executive assistant Kati Murphy.

And, if the town opts for one of the two viable clerk of the works applicants, Lou DiCesare II, it likely would not be able to use the loan to pay him, either.

DiCesare, whom Stonington recently fired from his former position as highway manager, is North Stonington's building inspector.

Selectman Mark Donahue said June 9 that even if the town has to finance the executive assistant, clerk of the works and project manager positions separately — a total First Selectman Nick Mullane put at about $200,000 — it wouldn't be a problem.

He noted that the town hasn't yet borrowed money from the USDA.

Another concern is whether the town should combine the clerk of the works and building inspector positions, which might be inevitable if it chooses DiCesare to do the job.

It's a move that Mullane, who's working to develop the contract, said could save about $40,000.

"The building inspector has more authority if he finds something wrong to stop the job," Mullane said, adding that DiCesare has been a contractor for the town in the past. "The clerk of the works would have to hunt down the owner's rep or building inspector and bring him up there ... so I actually think it's better coverage."

But Selectman Bob Testa thought the combination could cause the town to "lose the check and balance of those functions."

Emergency Services Building Committee Vice Chairman Joe Cassata asked project manager Peter Springsteel Monday to have a conference call with the selectmen, USDA representatives and any lawyers involved "to resolve this once and for all."

The other viable bidder is Stadia Engineering Associates Inc., which is handling the clerk of the works duty for phase one. Mullane called the group "fully qualified" but reiterated that it would cost more to choose them.

It's not the first time the committee and the town have considered combining two positions into one. Just last month, they chose to have Springsteel, an architect out of Mystic, take on the joint role of owner's representative and project manager.

The building committee also spent a sizeable portion of Monday night going through drawings from architectural firm Silver/Petrucelli and Associates. They compared the drawings to a running list of requested changes they created and found some issues.

"We've got to send (the drawings) back again," Cassata said after the meeting. "It's a check and balance."

The Board of Selectmen expected to go out to bid for a construction engineer in early June, but that hasn't happened yet.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle