Ductwork May Be Included In NHS Expansion

By John Voket

A heating and cooling duct replacement for the auditorium that was scrapped during the last Newtown High School expansion in 1997, which has apparently been deferred by the Board of Education in subsequent budget cycles, has become an urgent concern. School business manger Ron Bienkowski told the Board of Finance this week that the ductwork’s condition has deteriorated to the point where the district is considering trying to accommodate the “urgent” project as part of the planned new expansion project currently in its design phase.

During discussion on Monday about the impending cost of the expansion between the finance board and Mr Bienkowski, he alluded that a new project may come onto the plan.

“Some inspections [indicted] the ventilation may be failing,” Mr Bienkowski said. “My gut feeling is if something needs to be done we will do that as part of the [current expansion] project.”

The business manager said auditorium duct replacement had been an escalating concern of former facilities manager Dominic Posca since 1997, when the last renovation opted to replace mechanical components of the auditorium heating and air conditioning system but not the ducting.

Current facility manager Gino Faiella performed an immediate inspection of the system after learning of the elevated concern Wednesday, and confirmed the ductwork over the auditorium dates back to the original building construction in the early 1970s.

Mr Faiella confirmed the ductwork should be replaced to bring it up to current code, and to enhance the efficiency of the up-to-date mechanicals, which are not matched or balanced properly to the current air delivery system.

“I believe the engineering [of a duct replacement] in 1997 to bring it up to current standards at the time was very cost prohibitive,” he said. “Trying to resize and reengineer the ductwork to match the [1997] mechanicals will maximize the system’s efficiency.”

The facilities manager said to accomplish that task will require tearing out existing ducts from the auditorium ceiling. He suggested the best time to do the work is during the approved expansion that is planned to begin in 2008.

“It absolutely makes sense to do this work during the expansion,” Mr Faiella said. “Because of the size of the expansion, we can get the duct work done much less expensively than if we treated it as a standalone project — and cheaper is always a good thing.”

While the cost for the auditorium ductwork proposal has not been fully estimated, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he expects a change order will need to be instituted to incorporate that aspect into the existing building expansion proposal.

“Up to now, the impression has been that this project has not met the minimum cap for capital project funding, which means it was up to the school board to accommodate this work through their operating budgets,” Mr Rosenthal said. He added that during previous CIP approval processes, the Legislative Council has typically rejected “cobbling together” numerous smaller projects to meet or exceed the capital funding qualification.

The first selectman suggested that since the high school expansion likely falls under the authority of the town and not the district, both the Public Building and Site Committee, as well as the Board of Selectmen would have to vote to approve a change order of this magnitude.

Mr Rosenthal said he needs to confirm whether that appropriation would then have to also receive taxpayer approval.

“If that work was never on the originally approved plan, do [town officials] just vote to include it, or do we go out to the public for approval on that appropriation?” the first selectman wondered. “We also need to determine if that work will be reimbursable under the state school grant, and exactly how urgent the work is.”

Acting Superintendent Thomas  Jokubaitis told The Newtown Bee on Wednesday that the auditorium duct system is antiquated.

“At this time I am uncertain of its longevity,” Mr Jokubaitis said. The school official has worked through numerous building projects in several districts during the past two decades, and agrees that the best time to address the duct issue is during the expansion renovations.

“It might make sense to build it into the repairs. It may be something the engineers are planning to recommend to the building and site committee, or refer to the Board of Ed for consideration and action.”

Mr Jokubaitis said almost every school he has worked in has stretched aspects of its HVAC systems to a 25–30 year functionality.

“After 25 years, it might need attention,” the acting superintendent said, adding that during the heat of budget cuts, physical plant projects are an easy and often substantial budgetary target.

“Virtually every system I’ve worked in faced similar issues of the deferral of projects — they are usually easiest to hit when budgets get tight,” Mr Jokubaitis said. He said he only became fully aware of the auditorium ductwork conditions, and the idea to build the renovation into the already approved high school design phase, at Monday’s finance board meeting.

Mr Jokubaitis said based on his experience, the scope of the project may be at the point where it could qualify on its own for municipal capital funding. He said that since the health and safety of students has always been a priority in his own district and in districts where he has consulted as an acting administrator, he will suggest the Newtown district adopt his successful practice of maintaining a five-year district repair and maintenance schedule.

“We’ll be talking about that during the budget process,” Mr Jokubaitis said. “With a repair and maintenance plan in place, if an emergency comes up, we can show where that item falls in the plan.”

He said the plan also serves as a way for the district, taxpayers, and other town officials to track what projects are deferred.

“It’s a way for people looking at the school budget to understand how long a project is being strung out, and notes the reasons behind any deferral,” the acting superintendent said.