By Sarah Opdahl

On Tuesday, October 22, New Fairfield’s Permanent Building Committee (PBC) members heard an update on the ongoing struggle to solve issues with propane use at the high school. Meetings continue regarding propane at the school, which remains out of use for the cafeteria, culinary classrooms, and science wing since the academic year’s start in a system which has experienced issues for much longer. This meeting marked a concerted effort to find the cause for the issue, which will then potentially lead to an assumption of the mounting costs to mitigate the problems.

At their last regular meeting, PBC members discussed possibly upgrading to stainless steel over black iron for the “temporary,” though likely permanent, run of pipes that will ideally correct the original system’s lack of mercaptan smell in the gas. However, at a “working group” meeting it was agreed that the project will be completed in black iron due to cost. Meetings with AmTech and Mitchell Oil were held to consider the logistics for the work, which is antici pated to begin on Tuesday, November 5. This is not as speedy of a timeline as the school district had hoped, given the difficulties that are experienced in the current propane-less situation.

While a small amount of the pipe was previously scoped to identify a potential cause for the propane issue, the PBC is now planning to have the entire line purged and scoped—especially from the regulator to the kitchen and culinary area—to document issues, which will ideally help to identify the cause. There was some discussion regarding the necessity of this work, but O&G’s Mr. Joe Vetro said, “If you are going to go after the trade contractor, that there was something wrong, and we have investigated the outside of the pipe, the pipe looks good, the installation looks fine on the outside…if we go through and replace the old piping without proving that the contractor did something wrong, it is going to be a problem.” Mr. Mike Del Monaco agreed that fault is difficult to assess in cases like these and questioned “if we need lawyers involved at this point to direct us or not.”

Regarding the scoping, a video and corresponding report is expected to explain the findings. Wh ile the line does branch off to the science rooms, Colliers International’s Mr. Mark Schweitzer said of the main line to the kitchen and culinary, “that seems to be the location that everyone is anticipating finding an issue because you are losing the gas, the odor, the mercaptan smell, in the kitchen.” It was also noted that the plan to scope the line to the science room may help to explain another issue that was recently experienced where there was an excess amount of water and pools of oil found. 

PBC members reviewed a new site drainage/grading plan for the Consolidated site, which will help to maintain the plan for a balanced site with zero fill being needed. Schweitzer said, “we will need to…have the engineer review it, and then, if we need a zoning modification, [to] go back to Zoning for a site plan modification to a new grading. The Consolidated demolition is about to begin in earnest, following an asbes tos abatement phase. Many safety measures are in place, including separation barriers between the wings, fall protection systems, and a tanker truck filled with water will be keeping everything wet to keep the dust down and in control. Filter fabric is also being placed in all catch basins.

Vetor gave an update on O&G’s continued work at the high school, saying, “the landscaper has been working up there, trying to establish grass if you go up around the parking lot [behind New Fairfield Middle School], though they did not get a good grass establishment. They have rehydrated it, they have been watering it, but they did not get a really good stand of grass. A lot of it is because they are going out there with a truck every three days or thereabouts and shooting water at it, but that is not the same as a true rain event.” He went on to say that they will “back in the spring.”

The PBC approved the purchase of new airflow sensors to potentially fix an ongoing issue with the high school science classroom fume hoods, which were initially automatic but too loud, then switched to manual but alarms were going off when they were turned on. The new sensors will ideally allow them to be on without alarms going off. Secondly, they agreed to purchase additional bleacher gate switches “to increase the strength of the door, the gate hardware,” Schweitzer said, as “the original one wired was not strong enough to hold the pressure of someone falling on the gate.”

The next regular New Fairfield Permanent Building Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, November 12, 7:30 p.m.