HomeMy WebLinkAboutCapital Improvements 09/22/2009Capital Improvements Committee Minutes
September 22, 2009 =
Present: Charlene Lavin, Chair; Michael Trowbridge and Jean Miljery-_School;
Committee, George Dentin, Board of Selectmen, MikeMcClanZh 'Planning Board
Nicholas Riccio, Interim Town Manager, Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and
Development, Superintendent Brenda Hodges, Walter Parker, Ed Vozzella, Shawn
Dadmun
1;:: The�:.meehng was cnl�ed to order at 6�30'p:m
Ms. Hodges explained the request for a new boiler at the "Central Office" (2 Park Row),
which is not repairable. A new boiler would cost $12,500, and a boiler/air conditioning
system would cost $34,500. Ms. Hodges's recommendation was to replace both. She
requested $12,500 come from a reserve fund transfer, and the balance would come out of
the existing School Department budget.
Mr. McClanahan said he has spoken with Mr. Parker, and the boiler has rotted out and
the air conditioning system is inefficient.
Mr. Dentino asked if the ducts are undersized. Mr. Parker; explained it is a steam system,
so the duct size is not an issue. He said the new system would be forced hot air.
Ms. Hodges said the department would draw from a number of places to arrive at the
necessary $22,500. She said it is good that this happened at the beginning of the fiscal
year. Mr. Trowbridge said the department may have to defer other maintenance items.'
Mr. Dentino said he was concerned about staring at a huge potential deficit before the
federal stimulus money arrives in the spring, and asked what would happen if the
stimulus money does not come in. Ms. Hodges said there would be a $3.5 million deficit
if the federal funding falls through.
Mr. Trowbridge said when the central office was renovated, nothing was done to update
the heating or cooling systems.
Mr. McClanahan said the payback with a new, more efficient system would be about
three years. Ms. Lavin asked what the usable lifetime of a new HVAC system would be.
Mr. Parker said it would be 15-20 years.
Motion: To approve the HVAC/boiler at the central office
(Trowbridge -McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES
The School Department's second request is for egress repairs at the Robinson School.
The way the doors opened resulted in bottlenecks, especially during fire drills. After a
Fire Department inspection, the work was done. The original estimate was $22,000; the
work was done over the summer and came in at $21,000.
Prior to this work, the School Department had spoken with both the Board of Selectmen
and the Finance Committee about replacing the kitchen steamer at the school. $18,000
was approved by CIP and Town Meeting for4hat work. Both the Board of Selectmen and
the Finance Committee have supported the change from $18,000 for the kitchen steamer
to $21,000 for egress repairs; Ms. Hodges explained they would like a similar vote from
the Capital Improvements Committee to support the expenditure.
Mr, Trowbridge said they would like to talk with the full committee about long-range
capital issues versus emergency repairs like this one. He stated that it is a CIP policy
issue that should be addressed and clarified.
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Mr. Parker explained the old egress was through a courtyard, which is no longer allowed.
He said they also need to add another door because of the increased number of students.
Mr. Vozzella noted the door from the courtyard opened out into the courtyard, which was
correct if students were leaving the hallway and going into the courtyard, but incorrect if
they were going in the other direction.
Mr. Riccio noted there were also issues with the number of children using that exit, as
well as the distance from classrooms to the exit.
Mr. Trowbridge said because this is a safety issue, it was deemed a higher priority than
some other maintenance issues.
Mr. Vozzella said this demonstrates the need to have capital money in the budget to
address emergencies.
Mr. Parker said they also need to look at egress issues at Qualters Middle School because
of the courtyard.
Motion: To support the repairs to the Robinson School egress
(Miller -McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES
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Motion: 7o adjo at 6:55 p.m. (McClanahan ) All in favor. PASSES