On Tuesday, September 24, New Fairfield’s Permanent Building Committee (PBC) members did not vote on a proposal to connect temporary propane at the high school, as the plans were not fully reviewed by town officials. The proposal had piping running on the building’s exterior to provide propane to the service kitchen and the culinary classroom kitchen, which continue to be without propane nearly a month into the school year. Not willing to rush the project and wanting to wait for clarity on all aspects regarding safety, PBC members agreed to hold a special meeting, once all documents are reviewed by key parties, including the Town’s engineer and fire marshal.

With a large pressure change planned, Mr. Mike Del Monaco pointed out, “instead of being four inches or two inches, it is going to be fifty-five inches,” and he clarified that the town engineer needs to approve the pipe size and flow. He and other PBC members expressed interest in seeing all drawings and the design flow for the proposal, as we ll as the kitchen drawings. PBC members had numerous other questions about the project, especially when they learned that the new piping will be the same type of pipes the school currently has—black iron. It was clarified by PBC member Mr. Nick Ciminello that, though the pipe types are the same, “the difference is the oversight during construction and making sure that it is done properly” which Colliers International’s Mr. Mark Schweitzer confirmed.  PBC members theorized about whether this could be a permanent solution rather than temporary and were told that Mitchell Oil app roached the solution as permanent automatically, as that is how it needs to be installed. Though the school’s primary kitchen and the culinary kitchen are the priority, there is a group investigating whether electrical hot plates could be used in the science labs as a stop gap for those spaces. The science labs have never properly run since the school opened last year.

When asked about metal shavings that were sent away to a metallurgical analysis, it was explained that the company “indicated that there was an insufficient amount of material that was supplied to them to be able to do the testing.” It was noted that costs continue to mount for the propane issues and are being tracked as error and omission costs. Once the propane consultant who is investigating the issue submits a final report, the identified party responsible for these errors will be responsible for the costs.

In other high school updates, lab results for the hot water discoloration issues show high iron. All involved are considering options for how best to deal with that. They also learned that an ongoing issue with the high school’s science room exhaust hoods is continuing to be considered. Representatives from O&G and JCJ Architecture are investigating how to control an air sensor that is causing alarms to sound.

The PBC voted to accept responsibility for moving forward with decisions regarding an underground storage tank that needs to be removed from the high/middle school property. The tank’s removal has served as a specter over many discussions about the Town’s finances, as the cost for removal is likely to exceed $600,000. New Fairfield Public Schools Director of Finance and Operations Ms. Carrie DePuy and Buildings and Grounds Director Mr. Phil Ross gave PBC members background on the tank and possible next steps to i nvestigate.

The underground tank, which was installed in 1994, sits on the service road behind the Rebel Stadium bleachers, which will greatly complicate its removal. It also abuts the middle school’s septic tanks.  The area is frequently traveled by staff, students, and residents. The project’s scope is still to be determined, but it will either include removing and replacing the tank or removing it and “abandoning” it, and then placing a new tank in an aboveground location nearby that leads to a small courtyard outside of the middle school’s library.  Ross said, “I don’t know if abandonment in place is allowed. That is something we would have to understand going forward, but we would deal with that underground site.” He noted, “the maintenance is a lot less on the above ground tanks.”

The failing elementary playground surface, which was determined to need replacement, is being volleyed among contractors who are questioning responsibility. At this point, the reasoning behind the failure was recently determined to be improper drainage of the basketball courts onto the playground. The engineering consultant says that the playground surface should be “crowned or installed so the drainage does not pound on the plate surface and it rolls off to the edges and stays off the surface.” The drawings originally showed that it needed to be crowned and it was not. In considering responsibility for the major error, Schweitzer said of the playground manufacturer, “they were not responsible for the sub base, but once they started work on it, they were required to provide us a list of deficiencies, or not even start work on it, if the sub base was deficient,” which they did not do. The matter will continue to be investigated.

PBC Chair Mr. Don Kellogg read a letter from Town Engineer Mr. Tony Iadarola regarding the status of the beach house project. Iadarola gave a detailed account of the project’s history, described the decrepit state of the current beach house, and explained what the Town intends with the space—a complete replacement of the beach house on the same footprint. There will be new rear footings and a foundation wall for the rear portion of the building.  New decks will be built in the same layout they exist in now and there will be a ramp in the front and an exterior lift to provide direct access to the beach area. All new mechanicals will be provided and “it will be plumbed to have easy drainage,” Iadarola said. The demolition will begin in late October and Iadarola has pledged to return to the PBC with many updates along the way.

There was a brief update on the Consolidated demolition. It was explained by Schweitzer that temporary fencing was erected and “contractors are mobilizing to the site or will be mobilizing to the site shortly.” Abatement of hazardous materials will begin shortly. Tree clearing work has also begun on the site and will cease quickly. In addition, it was noted that the potential crosswalk move to the high/middle school’s exit will likely be going to the Zoning Commission for review on October 9.

The next regular New Fairfield Permanent Building Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 7:30 p.m.