[ad_1]
ROYALSTON – Director of Public Works Keith Newton spoke to the Royalston Selection Committee at their meeting on Tuesday, September 7 and provided an update on several construction projects he hopes to be completed before the cold does not settle.
One of these projects is to repair the back wall of the city’s public security building, which houses the police and fire departments, as well as replace part of the roof of the structure. Board member Chris Long, who also sits on the city’s building committee, told Newton she was aware of the problems with the wall, but was unaware that anything had to be done. either on the roof.
“This was the general consensus of several people in the construction industry that I spoke with,” Newton said. “This thing has been taking water for a while. It was not noticed because it did not pierce, but it caused significant damage. So you have the back walls that have been compromised, but you also have a section (of the roof) where a lot has happened. ”
Newton said, when asked by contractors if he wanted to fix the roof, said, “I don’t want to fix it anymore, I want to fix the problem. Each of them came back and said, “If you’re trying to fix (the) problem you’re going to have to replace that point, you can’t fix it.”
“Again, we select one side, and that’s the back of the building. It’s a big amount of money, but I don’t think we can get the best results if we put something into it. ”
Bids for the work were to be opened on Wednesday, September 22. The funds to pay for the work will be taken from the $ 75,000 the city obtained for the sale of a generator that was originally installed at the Royalston Community School, but was no longer needed.
In response to a question from board member Chris Long, DPW administrative assistant Michelle Deline said that no specific amount had been set aside for the project.
“We asked for an amount,” said Deline, “and the finance committee came back and said the money could be taken from that $ 75,000. I don’t think it was voted on at the municipal assembly because it never got that far because the finance committee said we didn’t need it.
The public security building was constructed in 1975, according to Newton, and occupied by police and firefighters in 1976.
The roof of Whitney Hall is also slated for repair work. Newton, who described himself as “discouraged”, was disappointed to receive only one offer to undertake the work.
Newton explained that while the estimated cost of the repairs was set at around $ 15,000, the city’s insurance company initially said it would reimburse the city just over $ 10,300.
“It took a bit of convincing,” he said, “but I asked this representative from our insurance to make the very generous offer to pay the full amount. Now we just have to send him the invoice when the work is finished.
Newton explained that the roof was damaged in a “fairly severe” windstorm on August 4 last year.
“We started to notice that the shingles were falling off quite regularly at a pretty alarming rate,” he explained.
The work includes the removal of all asphalt shingles, the application of ice and water screens, the installation of watches, a new drip edge and the replacement of the shingles.
“We’re looking at the south side of Whitney Hall,” Newton said. “The north side of the building is hardly damaged. The prevailing winds come from the southwest in this valley and this caused a lot of damage to the building. So we only need to do one side.
The work will be carried out by Richard Fairman Builders of Orange.
Finally, Newton said some work on town hall, including repairing and waterproofing a damaged sill and part of the ground, and – as a separate project – repairing and replacing Missing trim and replacement of the exterior wood kitchen door. Stephen Chase Contracting of Athol submitted bids for the two projects totaling $ 6,500. Since neither of the two projects exceeded the $ 5,000 mark, it was not necessary to submit the work to be tendered.
The board of directors voted unanimously to approve the contract with Chase.
Repairs are also planned for two hearse houses located at Riverside and Center cemeteries, respectively.
“We had been looking for some time to refurbish them and improve them structurally,” said board chair Deb D’Amico.
The city has set aside $ 15,000 for the work, which will also be carried out by Chase Contracting.
Greg Vine can be contacted at [email protected]
[ad_2]
Source link