Selectmen Say ‘Go’ On Town Hall Construction

By John Voket

After discussion with representatives of O&G Industries, the project manager for the municipal office development at Fairfield Hills, Newtown’s Board of Selectmen voted 2-1 authorizing construction to begin as soon as possible. O&G representative Jeff Cugno then said with the affirmative vote, selectmen and town employees currently housed in three separate locations across Newtown could look forward to occupying the new office space as early as June 2009.

“This is an eight-month project,” Mr Cugno told the board.

The one drawback, which seemed to influence First Selectman Joe Borst’s No vote, was the inability for the budget to accommodate a complete roof replacement on Bridgeport Hall, the former state hospital food service and activity center.

While the O&G representatives said any project of this nature could benefit from a new roof, if it were financially feasible, it was not a requirement based on the integrity and condition of the materials present today. A reroofing of the building was not part of the renovation bid, but was included as an alternate. A preliminary report in The Bee indicated that early calculations on bids received seemed to indicate there would be enough money in the budget to not only complete the construction phase, but to also replace the roof.

But the construction managers told selectmen September 15 that approximately $500,000 in demolition funds that were already expended were not factored into the bottom line after initial bid calculations two weeks earlier. That $500,000 would have covered the alternate roof replacement.

Despite the recalculation, after figuring a modest contingency, the project is still within budget, Mr Cugno told the selectmen. The fixed budget that was approved after all bids were scoped and vetted stands at $10,728,436.

In explaining O&G’s recommendation that a complete reroofing would not be required, Mr Cugno conceded that whenever possible, that option should be included. But he added that materials inherent in the decades-old roof were extremely strong, and in fact, no longer available in today’s roofing products.

Mr Borst has maintained his preference that a new roof be installed because of a concern that future replacement of asbestos shingles on an already-occupied town hall would cause undo disruption to municipal proceedings to accommodate the hazardous materials removal.

“If we’re going to spend $10 million of the taxpayers’ money, we should put on a new roof to protect our investment,” Mr Borst said.

Selectman Paul Mangiafico then asked what the taxpayers are getting for their $10 million investment.

Mr Cugno then explained that the existing pitched roof is in good shape, and only would require minor repairs. He said the areas of the roof that are currently leaking are flat roof additions, which were included in the budget to be completely replaced.

Mr Cugno said those sections, plus the areas that would be occupied with new ventilation dormers, would constitute about ten percent of the roofing being replaced as part of the budgeted project.

“We understand this has been an ongoing consideration,” Mr Cugno said of the full roof replacement. “But O&G doesn’t give this recommendation [to retain the original roof] lightly. You hired O&G to give you the best advice possible. If we thought any differently, we would come forward right now with a different recommendation,” he added.

Democratic Selectman Herb Rosenthal then moved to commence construction on the project, reserving the right to exercise the option for a full roof replacement pending the outcome of a Fairfield Hills infrastructure meeting that was scheduled September 18, just hours after The Bee went to press.

Mr Rosenthal suggested that the meeting might reveal optional funding sources for part or all of the roof replacement from either the initial project budget, or other grant money that may be in play for aspects of the campus redevelopment.