5/6 School Utility Poles, Contingency Fund Generate Questions

By Tanjua Damon

Utility poles and the contingency fund of the 5/6 school have raised questions and concerns about the project that was approved by voters in June and began construction shortly after.

Eight utility poles put in by Connecticut Light & Power have many in the community questioning why the lines are not being put underground and many are upset that trees had to be trimmed at the site located on Wasserman Way and Trades Lane. The poles were a focus of discussion at Monday night’s Republican Town Committee meeting.

“Years ago (the utilities) wanted $1 million to put wires underground on Main Street,” Bill Meyer said. “I do not want poles at Fairfield Hills destroying that view.”

Andrew Buzzi, a member of the Public Building and Site Commission, said the commission held a special meeting weeks ago to ask the architect and CL&P to look into the issue.

“There were two choices,” he said. “The first was to go underground from Wasserman Way to Trades Lane and that would cost $1.2 million. The second was through the air by using poles. They couldn’t go across the soccer or baseball fields. The power plant is antiquated. We’ve been working on this problem since the end of July.”

Robert Hall said there had to be a less expensive, less objectionable way to get electricity and telephone service to the building. “I don’t think (First Selectman Herb Rosenthal) pressed CL&P enough on this,” he said.

With the poles already in place and the uncertainty of the development for Fairfield Hills, electricity needed to get to the site. Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed pointed out this week that during the development stages there was never any indication that wires would be put underground.

“There never was any discussion by anybody during the planning to put wires underground,” Dr Reed said. “It was never a part of the budget. The need to get electricity to the school is real.”

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal explained this week that Northeast Utilities advised that wires not be put underground at this point until a master plan for the Fairfield Hills campus was determined. The $1.2 million figure to lay wires underground only included electrical wires. Additional costs would be incurred for telephone and cable lines to be put underground.

“It was not only the cost, but the time factor that would delay the project for six to eight months that would delay getting power to the school,” Mr Rosenthal said. “Northeast Utilities advised against putting wires underground until a master plan for the main campus because it could affect the manner in how they are out underground. When the master plan is done we’ll certainly know what we need.”

Electricity is expected to be available at the site later this month.

Contingency Fund

Interest in the 5/6 school contingency fund also sparked discussion this week after a report was released at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday, September 4. The report showed that one expenditure had been made to the fund for $33,614 for hardware for the school that would help make hardware universal throughout the district, leaving $1,466,386 remaining.

Other contingency items in the report were labeled “pending” but may never come to light, according to Tim Alix of Strategic Building Solutions. It is a list that is being generated so all items that come up can be looked at and addressed.

“These are just for us to think about things. Not for us to spend this money,” Mr Alix said. “It’s better to know about it. There are not items that people should jump up and down about.”

What may have people concerned is that the list of pending items total $547,328, a significant amount for contingency items, particularly at the outset of a project. But the pending items may never come to fruition and some are in contract negotiations that could lower the costs considerably, according to Mr Alix.

“If we thought we were half way through the contingency, we would be worried,” Mr Alix said. “It’s a worse case scenario. We would much rather be prepared so they can make an informed decision.”

Some of the items on the list include removing contaminated soil from Watertown Hall that the school district found out about after the project was put out to bid. Because of the pesticides used in the past some of the soil around the building is going to have to be removed. Other contaminated ash soil will have to also be moved. 

Dr Reed is not too concerned with the pending items and wants the community to realize that there are going to be items that come up, but the contingency fund is not in jeopardy.

“We weren’t aware of the soil needing to be removed around the Fairfield Hills buildings. It’s an example of why you have a contingency fund. It’s a problem that came to light after the bids were out,” Dr Reed said. “What that list was, was everything people were thinking of that were known. They are estimates. They are really price ranges.”

Dr Reed is pleased with how the project is going so far. The schedule leads to a January 2003 completion date. The foundation for the gymnasium and cafetorium has been set, and steel is expected to arrive before the end of September.

“I think it’s proceeding in a manner which you would expect,” Dr Reed said. “At this point in the project, I’m not aware of anything that would cause the contingency not to make it through.”

Kaaren Valenta contributed to this story.