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head: Libray Work Continues But At A Snail's Pace

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

When the $4.1 million Booth Library project will be completed still depends on

whom you ask.

General contractor Keith Crumb, vice president of Building Technologies Inc of

Prospect, told the Public Building & Site Commission Tuesday evening that the

library will be ready for a certificate of occupancy (CO) inspection by August

18.

"You won't get it on August 4 - I'm talking about August 11 to 18," he said.

Although no representative of the Avon-based architectural firm King & Tuthill

attended the meeting, a letter received Monday by First Selectman Bob Cascella

from Bruce Tuthill said the architects don't believe the project will be

completed until early September.

Even if the CO is issued by August 18, work won't have been completed.

"The CO covers health and safety," said Frank Krasnickas, commission chairman.

"There still will be a punch list to complete - two to four weeks' more work."

And once the library staff is given the OK to move back into the building, it

will take another four to six weeks to move all of the books, furniture, and

equipment back to the Main Street facility.

Mr Crumb came to Tuesday night's meeting to ask that his firm be paid $172,000

for a long list of change orders and proposed change orders, a request which

the commission had no intention of approving. The commission already has said

that no additional payments will be made until the CO is issued. After the

architects visited the site on July 17, they recommended that the $190,462

requisition for BTI's 16th payment be reduced by $47,489 because of

uncompleted work.

Criticizing Mr Crumb for never having attended any of the commission meetings,

the commission members bombarded him with questions about the many delays and

additional costs incurred during the past year. Mr Crumb said many of the

problems were beyond his control, adding, "There will be litigation on this."

"The problem with the roof started with the roof design - it was an incomplete

design," Mr Crumb said. "Things weren't on the drawings."

A lack of manpower, bad weather, and the discovery of asbestos added to the

problems, he said.

"I was ordered out of the building on September 9 by the State Board of Health

[because of the asbestos] so I'm not contractually required for anything that

happened until I got back into the building months later," he insisted.

Mr Krasnickas and other commission members disagreed with many of Mr Crumb's

assertions.

"You're playing with the town's money," Mr Krasnickas said, adding, "We have

legitimate counter claims, too."

Despite the disagreements, the town, the contractor, and the architects agreed

recently to proceed with the job and work out the disputes over payments at

the end.

"I've made some mistakes," Mr Crumb admitted, "but so has everyone involved.

Everyone will be held responsible for their mistakes in the end."

Ed Callo, the clerk of the works, said that as of July 15 he estimated that 88

percent of the work on the building and site had been completed. "I think

we're talking about not finishing in the middle of August," he told the

commission.

Mr Krasnickas said he will ask building inspector Al Brinley for a list of

work which must be completed before a CO will be issued.

Mr Crumb said the building's sprinkler system has been tested and he hoped

that the carpeting would be installed this week. "By the middle of September,

everything will be done," he insisted.

Mr Krasnickas, Mr Callo, the architects, and Mr Crumb have agreed to meet on a

weekly basis until the project is complete. The next walk-through of the site

was scheduled for Thursday, July 24.

When the town met with BTI, the firm's lawyer, and the bonding company in late

May, they agreed that Mr Cascella would get the CO on August 4. Mr Cascella

said he plans to add the subject of the library to the agenda for the next

Board of Selectmen meeting, scheduled for August 4, and invite the town

attorney, the architects, and others associated with the project to attend.

Legally the town can take no action until after the August 4 deadline passes,

Mr Cascella said.