Hawley School HVAC Project Phase 1 Passes BOE

By Eliza Hallabeck

After coming before the Board of Education late last month, the school board again took up the discussion of a planned Hawley Elementary School heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) project at its meeting on Tuesday, September 4, this time voting to pass the first phase of the project as represented to the Planning Building & Site Commission in August by Kaestle Boos Associates.

At the same time the school board was meeting, the Board of Selectmen also took up discussion on the rescoped Hawley project proposal. The selectmen agreed that the scaling back of Phase 1 to accommodate the most pressing concern of the boiler replacements was a practical alternative.

At that meeting, Town Finance Director Robert Tait said that $5 million currently budgeted in the Capital Improvement Plan for the project “could fit” with a short-term note being floated to cover costs for work projected for the summer of 2013. Bonding for the work would then occur in February 2014, Mr Tait said.

When the project was last presented to the school board on August 20, Charles Boos of Kaestle Boos Associates explained it would bring all areas of the school worked on by the company up to compliance with the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA). The planned phases were also presented as being reworked, but the school board indicated it would not recommend the project as presented to them in late August.

The Public Building & Site commission met a few days later, and another approach to the project was presented, which would involve replacing the boilers, associated piping, and radiation work next summer, according to that meeting’s minutes. Work on the HVAC systems would be phased out to the summer of 2014 in the plan, and the 1921 section of the building would scheduled for work the following summer.

This past Tuesday, school district Facilities Director Gino Faiella said he is satisfied the boilers at the school will hold up through the winter, and said in the event a temporary boiler is needed it would not be difficult to get one.

The school board voted unanimously to approve the first phase of the project. It will now move before the Board of Finance and Legislative Council for approval.