Technically, the long completed Newtown High School addition is not yet complete.

According to Public Building and Site Commission Chairman Robert Mitchell, a pesky leak that has confounded school maintenance and plant personnel, contractors, and consultants alike continues to occasionally drip pools of water into the rear cafetorium area of the addition.

Mr Mitchell told The Newtown Bee, however, that officials closely monitoring the difficult-to-pin-down water intrusions are certain it is happening because of a failure to complete the installation of flashing behind a primary exterior wall. Unfortunately, the company that was contracted to perform the original installation of a massive window wall in the cafetorium is no longer in business.

“It’s hard to say who is responsible at this point. We’ve had a trouble shooter working on this for years,” Mr Mitchell said. “[Construction manager] Morganti used six subs for that window wall.”

He said the latest determination revealed that five segments of flashing need to be installed or replaced, and that work can only be done under special circumstances.

“It has to be done in the middle of a dry period, and when there are no students in the building,” the PBSC chairman said. At the same time, a roofing contractor has to schedule time to be on hand as the flashing work is done, further complicating scheduling.

“But we’re very sure the problem is in the window wall flashing,” Mr Mitchell said, adding that the leak is frustrating in that it is a final issue pending before his commission can consider the high school building project completed.

For district Facilities Director Gino Faiella, the frustration comes because the leak is not consistent. He told The Bee that it appears rain has to be falling at a certain intensity for a certain duration before the leak reopens, or precipitation has to be wind driven from a certain direction.

Both he and Mr Mitchell are hoping for a final resolution to the issue in the next couple of months.

Adjusting his focus to another part of the high school, Mr Mitchell continued to promote the work being done to renovate and improve the high school auditorium. He said school officials, particularly Director of Music Michelle Hiscavich, are very impressed with both the design and scope of the project.

“We’re not only going to be looking at a professional theater environment when this is done, but a premier community auditorium that can serve Newtown for many types of functions,” Mr Mitchell said. “I mean, we’ve got internationally known [design and installation] people working on this.

He also described Sandy Hook Elementary School construction as “breezing along.”

“All the Sandy Hook contractors are bending over backward to deliver an incredible project,” he said of the new Sandy Hook facility.