MARION — When it comes to conjuring up more than $2 million for a sewer plant project that was woefully misestimated, Marion Selectmen are more clear on the “when” than the “how.”

What’s clear is the town won’t be meeting the Dec. 1 deadline that the Environmental Protection Agency had set.

A letter from the Marion Board of Selectmen to CDM Smith, the engineering company that underestimated the cost of a state-mandated sewer plant project, hints at how Selectmen will start to solve the problem but provides little in the way of other long-term strategy.

CDM Smith had originally estimated that draining and relining the lagoons, and making other adjustments to make the sewer treatment more efficient and comply with Environmental Protection Agency standards would cost $2.5 million. When bids came in from construction companies at a Feb. 5 meeting, the lowest was at $4.7 million.

At a Feb. 19 meeting, the Selectmen approved the letter to the engineering company that included first steps after the misestimate. One of the clearest statements had to do with the timing of the project.

“Securing this additional debt will almost certainly result in the need for the Town to request from Federal regulators additional time to complete the lagoon lining, as we will now be unable to meet the mandated completion deadline of Dec. 1, 2019,” the letter says.

However, very little of their immediate strategy for how to resolve the problem was clear. 

“The Board of Selectmen and Town Staff have been working feverishly to identify a new path forward in light of this very serious problem. These efforts remain ongoing,” the letter states.

The Selectmen are also seeking more information from CDM Smith, and mulling how to rebuild their working relationship with the company. 

The Board of Selectmen also authorized a letter to Governor Baker that would use state funds focused on improving sewer quality to pursue a $2 million appropriation from the Governor’s office for the project as well.

The engineer will lose control over two parts of the lagoon project, as the town requested it immediately suspend work related to those project, stating that it will “explore other avenues to complete these tasks.”

Other requests center around getting more information to support the estimate, or the ensure the town is not blindsided by other costs.

The Selectmen requested that the engineer provide cost estimates for all other ongoing projects and how those cost estimates were derived.  They also requested that CDM Smith provide full cost breakdowns to support estimates on two projects.

Finally, selectmen want the company to explain in detail how the error in estimation occurred.

At the Feb. 5 meeting, representatives from CDM Smith said that the error occurred because every part of the project cost more than expected.