Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMBC 12/23/1980, 2 School Committee Meeting December 23, 1980 R. Saquet, J. Douglas, J. Jardin, Town Counsel Vulcahoy Barbarisi: Over a. year ago vie had some converns relative to Che high school roof in that our observations seemed to indicate teat it was developing some bubbles etc. That led us to be cont--n':�. �. about how well it was going to hold up. ;'hen the roof develores those kinds of bubbles then generally one of the problems yoi',_n; if there is anyonewalking on the roof it can create diffic,,ilti.-.. It is our understanding that after it being installed there 1;va problem with the roof failing when snow and ice and people ha;e_::: to get up there to remove it. If we ran into that situation aL"J"A haddto get back on the roof difficulties may arise. 7e viers ,acs. aware of the fact that the M13C and roofer werehavi.ng discussion relative to the bubbles and what was causing them, The Last re: received was copies of Mr. ,Saquet's, indicated that test results inconclusive because something had happened to the sample -E. 1s time ;vent on and we continue to inspect the roof and see :;,ore and more bubbles vie began to be concerned about whether somethingshoi.z-'.' be done. Nle made some inquiries with some engineering conr.?anies we-del-a-et�rey- they did a survey for us and you have cori-es, t this time it seems there is a necessity for some caregul tu-1y aP what we have on the roof and steps should be taken once 1:,e :tnow real condition. Mulcahy: !bat kind of roof' do vie have,it t'nere a name fri i' Isn't a. name of the person that designed this type of roo designed the concept of a flat roof? faquet: It a design by the original architect, Douglas: 'Jle still have not accepted the roof. Vie are withholdin,r- a final payment. Purgess and Blacher I think in this case if 100'% clean on the basis that we hired an architect to design the roof, burgess and nla.cher received the job. ':'le also hired an outside engineering company to oversee the installation of the jo';. ale have the reports stating that all had been done, ;'then the contractor submitted plans and specs under our supervision. Guerinni: H01,V can you say he :is clean, Xf The experts we had that it is not the fault of the materials, it the poor workmanship. Saquet: 7e have repsrts from >;riggs saying that the work vias dn�� correctly, �.7or' ;�a toper d 1^!hen necessary. The very fact that the job that sas ;uoho;ed to be a six week job took 3 years to complete. `Pighe,: }JI am COD cerned „-lith the present and. the future. One of the experts say that tic roof is going to last 2-3 years. ';;That is toing to be done i -n then mcant-l-mo to keep the school in operation. Barbarisi: T'he.rr�' arc certain things that they tend to come to a conclusion at; this; 1))j.nt is that there are studies that need- to be y' done. Mulcahy: I suggest to you for an expert to say that without making extensive tests is prejudicing the case, m 2 k Tighe: 90 Tn lr- Lno,t clear that ho Weld „Ot 00V , ,n ;nlz - ,'n extensive testing. Barbarisi: No matter what caused it that roof has orobl< - Od :/o'; have to address it at some point. The earlier you address `. `,Iia better your chances. Aaquet: This letter 1 presume is a proposal For these c^nsi?'an`-] to do work. Have they taken cuttings? Yes. One cutting. Three different engi_neeK . Barbarisi: There was discussion that this type of roof we i_n hit - local has a high failure rent. Mulcahy: Have any of these taken this ty;n of eroof to court. Yes, one in Mass. and one all over the country. Barbarisi: le felt that erre sh.ouls sit down with you and ,sae a oudgement as to where you Brant to go also. 1e had three er„ena�-_ firms. You may want to bring therm back t^ discuss with yon. Douglas. Think it he with the d �inn ninccr. 11t` V. 1, to him to defend. }5 his own work. AR Barbarisi: One of the concerns is that the r3esign may also be a pboblem sot that the architect may also be part of the uroblen. No matter who looks at the roof they will have to meet vitt. the architect, etc. Ve need as objective assessment of the situation as can be gotten. ',re are at the mercy of the people Saquet: Has one of these done a roof cutting? Yes, ARM Ounsultants. He took video tapes which he would be hark:' to share. Saquet: He makes a broad statement that the roof has deteriorate:' with life expectancy of 2-j years. Ike also goes into a whole _=_ of litigation. Tigh;_.: Tell us Vat you intend to do about it. Saquet: Thrre in a bonne on the roof and it is bonded against leaking. The roof is said by the manufacturer that they will correct IX the leaks. Other possibility is to enter into a H program of roof ma.i-ntenance which is to correct the blisterin to remove and replace. This may be much less than the cost of litigation. Oe may discuss this with Burgess and Blacher. 1> long as 7e have a bone on the roof we should not be doing _nytlir_ the manufacturer cars don't do on the bond may become usElcca. ON Ic do not have the bond /// in hand because we have not finished paying the contractor. Other is to take it to litigation. =a someone else took at the roof. The building has a flat roof, no matter what you do IXII you still have a'fl.at roof. Barbarisi: At the present time we have a roof with all kinds of should not be ,falkod on it all in cold c;eatlinr, ecar:.se of tti that the drains fill- up with the tar pitch Saquet: Are the drains blocked un? Yes, we just found out. Saquet: It you want to have the plugggd drains tended to, cal' Burgess and Placher. Barbarisi: If ye do ;calk on X it and the bubbles break t'. -en :n in trouble. Saquet: One of the benefits of a flat roof is XX that water w --.J run in all directions, the loin spots would be no more than At this point I would refer it back to Burgess and Blacher. Do take the responsibility of going up there without Burgess and Dla.c' saying to go ahead and do it. They have the obligation of ta'cin care of the bond. Tn the early days of planning that roof- re looked at other alternatives of putting a pitch in the roof but the cost of doing that proved to be prohibitive so we elected to stay with the flat roof. The insulation may be a contributing; -jcI.` Ve have seen reports that urethane insulat.i_on may cau:;e If > /x !sic had bone to a_n0thcr insulation we ;;ould have ha' '.he type of problem. Mulchay: *,7hen did ,you learn that urethane may cause proble7s? Saquet: This came up after the new roof started doing funny things. These were industr* reports sent to us by Burgess and Blacher, said there may be problems with urethane roofs. Uo one was going to say what the possibility was. At the suggestion oC Koppers we changed the specs to bO,/ combination of urethane and perlite which they felt would control whatever movement there would be. The job had been passed by Town Mecting prior to creation of the 1+1BC. ':'!e were committed to the dollar and that is what we could do with the urethane. We also had looked at the type we used on the c)TS, The weight of the gravel would have been too heavy for this building. Barbartsi: The major concern :Ls that there is potential of 3-1f different kinds of things of the problems that roof has. It has be addressed before you are into a critical stage. If we run arnu,' and patch them we are going to run into a situation of what we arr are going to do about. At this point we have certain information _ a number of fairly re-putable engineering firms 1XX that the rooS should, be looked at and, a determination made as to what problem_; exist and. remedial act=ion to correct them ,laquet: Cn the original roof :aas accepted ae called for a i,o.br, removal of theroof do�,m to gypsum deck. P,ccording to architect Briggs the insulatio» :;e ull;d up vas 951' dry and intact&. It as also Bound that sore the the roofing came off very easy // some d " not. Basically there is a sound roof under there. May nr'iproach this as a m intenance point of view to work with the contractor. "e still have he bond towork with. If an outside consultant can come up with a bla.n to solve the problem. If you have the budget. L[ O'Malley: ?by didn;t we put the onous on the contra.ctvr. Barbarisi: It is leaking in a couple'of places. The tar is l_ar'z ing down the fascia. Douglas: The contractor has stated he is Tilling to IV do th_i3. Gorman: Our consultant suggested that was a shortcut tn 7Qr'-;- manship. Douglas: No have to go back and digest these points. Tighe: You are aware of the /I/ engineering report that Saquet: In order to protect the bond keep off the roof. 2-0-0, the contractor. Mulcahy: What you have to do is notify toe contractor that thor difficency and explain to him that there is a problem and that must send someone up on the roof and will hold whim resronsibl, any difficulty. You must wrtte to Xjj the contractor and advis him of the problem as dell as Koppers, Briggs. Put them ne on notice that there is a problem and you are holding thetti responsible. That. .is not a legal question it is a nnc. YOU must hold 9$ them responsible for the deficiencies in the roof. Saquet: Would it be advisable for the .School Department to send a letter, Barbarisi: You still Xhave control of the roof because it has nev✓ been accepted. ?e are informing you of the problems. Saquet: To llyllyXII deal with the IS MIC IX through the contras` is time consuming, It would be much easier if the Superintendent since that is fact that you try to get hold of a person that is not part of staff. Tighe: At the last meeting dour agent wanted us to hire n -e of these/ consultants. Recauce we owe it to the children. 1 stili maintain that this is your problem. Coquet: You can sin )l i send a blanket letter to the contras:^r. Ba.rbarini: HW Y havo not; lived up to any kind of responsibility Saquet: If a decision has to be made in a crisis situation Guerinni: lou call_ tbne and request a representative, they cannot we go up and shovel Qov. . Saquet: 9t what point do 7c consider a dangerous situation up t'her Barbarisi: Tdow are tie going to address the fact that the roof is not in the condition that we would like to see it? Given that as a fact if we run into a situation that the snow builds up with snow and ice what is going to be the result now that it is all filled with blisters. When they break we are going to have water and a roofer that says they broke because we got up there t, J le want to determine this before it happens not after thn Cast because we caused part of the problem Tf itfills up nr, ar" to get up there and clean it off now. Jard.inSeems that Psh` I1committeeconittee was charged with the of finOiDa the architect and builders for rc-building tK r"P7. I dont thine it should be the committee that should go after tn�� architect. I think :it should be the lawyer or. Town Counsel =gin' tell them that it is a problem. Tighe: It is still your roof. You have not paid- for it people are your agents they are not our agents. JaKin: IioT can you get consultants then' Ba..rba.risi: 7e have a. responsibility totho „rojplc t'aC in tris building. TV have ':gaited long time for a r etorclin 3tignc%i Burgess and Blacher. 7e have responsibility of devo2o7i'-C J_ maintenance program for the buildings and have contactedconsultant- for preliminary study. Mince you are 0- tv n Wy that in ch rg with the responsibility we are giving Y04 ;his inforlat.;ivn. ln,;- thing ;9e can do to assist you is fine, :;at roof is still onr responsibility Douglas: Hy own p r`d o"gal opinion is that tic PTC shr&-00- to the architedt. or Car as I am concerned the contraet n ' done his job. As it sta.nK now you Lava l." year warrant; l_,: ft. ® If you start tearing into the roof with. soAcone else you ars; jeopardizing it. Barbarisi: Generally you get permission Cris the bonding cvg7O-q.-, O'I2alley: iiow do you see the roof hr. Eulc.ahy' Ptulcahy: If necessary I will write the letter ,_rysQ r to 0, - contractor that there is problem. The EEC should write and explain that they arc aware of the prohlem s, the School could -n it also. What at least protects you if we do have a storm. That at least puts them on notice if there is a storm a.nc" we have to go on the roof to protect the lives and safety of chi]' You have to nut them on notice. Anybody could write the letter, i. shouldd be the people who are responsible for the roof. 71nht: no:� we are discus inn altarativo solutions to the problem. Douglas: I feel it our resporsibilil;7 ;once 7o Have no': accepted the roof. I!ulcahy: 7ou are taJ_'_._i-np; about a lot of money anda serious sa.£et,; factor. If you can avoid it you do it. n r your offer (Ja.q.uet: "hank ;,._u Er yo Mulcahy: I will Write the 2etter Saquet: That covers the question of immediate action on the r,nT. TJJ rdinI It the event of litigation, isn't there a possibility t'r,_` dere may bo other parties involved other that the contractor" - 6 - Mulcahy: That is That I am trying to dctr:rvine. I IntnrK to coo_ everyone that was involved. O'Malley: Out responsibility as School Committee is is Sn uT thea: and shovel the snow. Mulcahy: You have an obligation to do that, everything els-. cwnos second, IX There is a possibility that it could he a des_iZo defect in certain components that were used on tho ronf, 71 design defect you can be held responsible for it, Tr nthcr has been the responsibility of the roofing contractor, To -r workmanship. It is difficult to prove that. Let me take ;t myself to write that letter. Saquet: That takes the immediate pressure off, low sae are ',,ac to whether or not to bring in a consultant to determine maintenance program, etc. The MBC has no funds to bet the nroZocn. Call a special Town Meeting and go to annual Town heeting rr i' t'; School Committee wanted to retain such vr-Fbcsionals an^ information with us. Barbarisi: Can't you also go to the Financc Committee? Mulcahy: Yc do hava n cgnsul.tant account but would 'gave t- to the Finance Commit an. d Holske: That happens if we go up on the rnof to shovel to orotec`. the bond on the roo Mulcahy: The warranty says thatthe roof 7jII work. If it does not, You are always going to have problemsand a difference of opinion. Holske: ?hat is the danger point. Mulcahy: Pio idea. Holshe: 7e are going to be in the position of having the bond voided, if we go up on the roof. Vulcahy: It would have: to be done on a reasonable basis. HDI 8103: 1- e ngO gain" t^. have Q get sonQnre )ron the ne;igi ^.'1 _ to make hVL C Wc% : -ave Maur consultants been able to Barbarisi: The on,iracr that Inas in the last time w1en the roof pronlems i years aSn artor that the construction company hod an eng:i.noor come and I goy did n ntudy of structural damage to whatever happened. _, ent around to the convulsion of their survey and he had .information at that point as to what the load ! bearing of that roof ovK. Saquat: The dead weight load of that roof would have been a function of the rnnpfrnrtinn nl_.nc - 7 - Think Nault dial bring in an engineer. The gym galls &I �oy,a_- cracks, after he gave us the report we chocked wiO the inVnr,_>r gym walls because of a. statement in his report, Mulcahy: You should attempt to obtain that report to see �_-t tn- load factor is so that you can make a value judGeme2t to cr^tact t'. life of children. You had to do what is necessary. I 701 tak-: care of writing a lettrr and putting respective persons on natic�. If the J''iBC wants to go to the PinCom or Town heating for rgnq,;- available that is up to them. In reading through reports s ,.- it is a timely problem and others say it is down the line. can express my opinion that it is a problema.nd something has t- be clone, Saquet: It has been suggested that we contact the 7inCnm for transfer. In the event that there is no money is there s.:a=,t'rin,_ you can clip into? Colella: Ito. Nooting adjourned and i`T3C members met with Kulcahy. Mulcahy: !ho does Oul_t think is responsible? Douglas: Kopperc. Saquet: Briggs was pa-i_d to see whether the roof was installed correctly, Mulcahy: If anyone is sued it would be all of them, the architecl, contractor, Koppers, ?hether or not the roof is going to fail it. is speculative. ;':'Then you recognize the problem you have to do something about it. Ja.rd.in: Are you saying an independent expert makes this determin..- tion? Mulcahy: Yes, I am saying that there is a problem with the roof and that the School Department is going to go onthe roof to urotuc' the safety of the children. Saquet: 111 the correspondence has been by the architect Vns T Mulcahy: I suspect t' -at Koppers product in the problea and not workmanship. Letter toNault askinL for guidelines in emergency snow removal frn, roof. Load bearing factor, 1t what point do they go up an,1 start working around to remove snow, ' Nulcahy: The only roa.son I want to write then is to protect :cur flanks to tell then cue ore aware of the problem, Bonding company should be notified. Burgess and Blacher still to--, the bond until Ib5,000 is paid, we withheld final 1G5,000 payment because they were to have come back to us with cause or repair. Should the bond be in their possession or ours, Mulcahy: Cannot tell you without knowing what the bond says. 8 "Je have to anticipate with the there that wq ^ri up there and clean the snow when we have no alternati n . Douglas: somewhere along the line the architect recommended that t type of roof should. % not be walked on and recommended :,l,:,n,& y Jard.in: /yX was that written into the specs? Gaquet: Don't believe it was written in. Hulcahy: These consultants are saying we know it isn't 100_"" but in 2-3 years it will. This hoppers bond, ;chat does it what does it mean. Saquet: Vould have to go bath to the spocz. Think it n , manimum dollar liability. Should we contact _'a_ult regW i load on the roof. Fulcaby: Yes.