By Sarah Opdahl

New Fairfield’s Permanent Building Committee (PBC) met on Tuesday, November 28 to discuss a series of changes occurring at the new high school to better calibrate how the spaces fit the needs of staff and students. One includes a change to the door hardware for the main o ffice, from a storeroom function, which is always locked, to a classroom function, which is more flexible. Th ere are also requests for numerous small furnishings to make spaces complete, such as a clock for reception, additional light fixtures for a seating area in the main office, and new racks to better fit instruments in cabinets in the music rooms.

Because of occupancy load and based on square footage, the high school science classrooms and labs require two means of egress. JCJ Architecture’s Mr. Bill Ayres explained, when they originally designed the space, they had the front of classroom doors designated as exit-only doors with the doors in the back of the classroom being the actual entrance for the students to come into the room. In the process of changing the hardware mid-build, and changing vendors, the primary entrance door was convoluted and it is now the door near the teacher’s desks. The teachers were not happy that the hardware on those doors got reversed, so they are changing out the doors enabling classrooms to be set up properly.

Colliers International’s Mr. Mark Schweitzer gave an update on the ongoing science classroom propane smell issue, saying recently “we did open up the three science classrooms on the third floor and we had twelve Bunsen burners in each of the classrooms going for about three hours. That morning there was a distinct smell in all three classrooms.” The fire marshall will visit the site to test for the propane smell. If he approves, the school should be on track to proceed with normal usage of the labs, barring any next steps.

In preparing to create the parking lot behind the middle school, unsuitable soils were found on the west end of the corri dor beneath the water rooms. Originally thought to be a two- to three-foot layer of proper fill, instead there’s a process fill or structural fill just 18 inches, below that is a grade strata that is not structu ral fill and O&G will deal with that in the construction of the parking lot. It was also noted that site concrete work has started at the middle school.

The next Permanent Building Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.