New Fairfield’s Permanent Building Committee (PBC) met on Tuesday, August 9. They learned that, at the elementary school campus a final cleaning was recently completed for the classrooms and the furniture is steadily moving into place in the addition. Most furniture was delivered, but some furniture—cushions, stools, and rugs—will be delivered in late September. It was noted that the delayed items will not affect programming. Work is continuing on the kitchen to ready the space for the school year and ornamental fencing is being completed by the bus entrance.

The PBC’s Mr. Mike Del Monaco asked O&G’s Mr. Zach Rowley about filters that he noticed had popped off rooftop units and was not satisfied when the proposed reasoning for the issue was due to workers completing other work nearby. It was proposed that the filters might be temporary construction filters that are meant to filter out debris and be easily removed, and that they should be replaced by long-lasting filters in the future. It was agreed that the appropri ate person needs to talk with the manufacturer to get their take on what happened with the filters and to ask for a solution to keep the filters from popping out. PBC members also asked for confirmation from Rowley that the commissioning was completed and were assured that everything is complete.

When it was reported that there is no change in the proposed time frame for the playground equipment delivery and installation, PBC members encouraged Colliers Inter national’s Mr. Mark Schweitzer to continue looking to the manufacturer for a better date.

O&G staff members are overseeing the completion of a punch list that includes 1400 to 1500 items. Rowley assured the PBC that this “sounds like a lot but that’s pretty typical.” He did admit that he “can’t guarantee that every single one” will be completed by the school’s opening. All remaining items will be completed outside of school hours. PBC members reminded all parties, as they have in previous meetings, to continue to involve school administrators in the punch list process. A representative from JCJ Architecture confirmed that Principal Mr. Rob Spino added items to the punch list in the previous week.

After a walkthrough of the many projects at the high school, there was a discussion about the ongoing masonry staffing issues, which prompted a request for an additional meeting later in the week of this meeting. O&G’s Mr. Joe Vetro reported that the schedule for the gymnasium continues to be negatively impacted by four to five weeks due to the lack of masons in the union that the project has contracted with. Vetro is not a fan of looking for additional workers outside of the union. Representatives from Colliers said that they are “monitoring” the situation and timing. PBC members stressed that they do not want to lose the opportunity to pivot now before other trades get further held up and the project heads into the fall and winter months.

The next regular Permanent Building Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, August 23, 7:30 p.m.

By Sarah Opdahl