The Ad Hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee held a special meeting on Thursday, August 26, 2004 in the meeting room at Canaan House, Fairfield Hills, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT: John Reed, Robert Geckle, William Lavery, Donald Studley, Richard Sturdevant, Andrew Willie ABSENT: Amy Dent, Moira Rodgers
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, State Representative Julia Wasserman, Maria DeMarco (DeMarco, Murphy & Miles), Jan Andras (clerk), two members of public, one member of press
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – None noted.
Utilization of Canaan House
First Selectman Rosenthal reminded that at the last meeting, there was discussion of options for the town and school offices currently at Canaan House now that the heating season is coming and the building does not have heating capabilities. One option is continuing to occupy Canaan House and doing whatever is necessary to take care of the building for 2-4 years until a permanent office space is secured; a second option is to purchase or lease a modular building for the offices currently located at Canaan; and the third option was to lease commercial space at another site. There is no other building on the campus that would be any less expensive to occupy than Canaan. In fact, other buildings would have more serious issues.
Mr. Rosenthal, along with Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker, has looked into available commercial space but found that what is available would be very costly because it is “raw space” that would need improvements before moving in, estimated costs of $50/sf. Options 2 and 3 cannot happen immediately. Regardless, something needs to be done to Canaan House in order for employees to continue to occupy the building. We have been consistently monitoring the air quality, especially during the oil spill and boiler explosion. It was learned this week that there is also a problem with water infiltration in the basement. This past year has been worse than others because of a very wet spring and summer. Also, when the oil tank
leaked, there was a lot of excavation done around the building. The moisture problem has to be taken care of immediately, even if employees only stay in the building short-term. Ms. DeMarco has had engineers look at the building to give us suggestions. Short-term solutions would buy time to decide whether Canaan House would become an intermediate solution or we would need to move to a modular building or rent commercial space.
Mr. Willie asked about the possibility of lesing the old Grand Union building. Mr. Rosenthal replied that would have a lot of cost involved to prepare the space. In addition, the building is still tied up in bankruptcy and may not be available immediately.
Regarding heat, there are two options – to move a permanent boiler to the building or to lease a temporary boiler from firms that provide them for companies who have disasters and need immediate heat.
Ms. DeMarco stated that we need to take care of the water in the basement and provide heat to Canaan House but in addition, she suggests upgrading the handicapped entrance and painting. That would enable us to get through this heating season in Canaan or until another intermediate solution is decided. She feels the roof can be “band-aided” for a while longer and she plans to have the gutters cleaned.
Mr. Rosenthal stated that he feels we should continue to explore the other options discussed. Since the last meeting one week ago, he was not able to get as much information as he would have liked. Chairman Reed would like to look more closely at costs for a modular building. We also need to look closely at longer-term costs of staying in Canaan House. In addition, the soil abatement around the buildings could impact the length of time we would be able to house employees at Canaan. Mr. Rosenthal met this week with our environmental consultant about steps we need to take to comply with the Remedial Action Plan approved by DEP. We have an aggressive schedule for getting soils with pesticides removed. Fairfield, Litchfield, Greenwich,
Bridgeport, Shelton House and the five duplexes have to be completed within two years. Canaan House could be completed in the third year. There are some concerns about occupying Canaan while other buildings are being excavated. Mr. Lavery asked about location for a modular building. Mr. Rosenthal answered that there are two locations he is looking into that would be away from the planned excavation and demolition.
Mr. Studley asked about using Newtown Hall along with a smaller modular building. Mr. Rosenthal replied that in Newtown Hall, we could only use the first floor because there is no elevator. Newtown Hall also does not have heat and would require a boiler. Mr. Studley asked about going ahead with renovations for that building since it is not slated for demolition. Mr. Rosenthal replied that funds to renovate that building were not in the bond issue.
Chairman Reed stated that last week when the issue of heat in Canaan House was being discussed, we did not know about the water problem in this building. He feels we should let Ms. DeMarco’s firm continue with the testing and possibly at next month’s meeting we would be able to confirm how expensive this basement problem will be to remediate. He feels we should take employees out of this building and make other arrangements. This building could become a big financial burden.
Mr. Rosenthal pointed out that our immediate decision is whether to lease a boiler or buy a boiler. For the short term, the estimate is just under $200,000 to rent a boiler.
Mr. Lavery moved to do the following at Canaan House: clean up the water problem, rent/lease a boiler, limit the amount of area heated, upgrade the handicapped entrance and paint. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
John Reed, Chairman
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