BOE Approves $2.1 Million

 For Hawley Project

By Susan Coney

The Newtown Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday to approve two separate bids to complete air and climate control systems renovations scheduled for Hawley Elementary School. The increase, which would meet the cost for the lowest bid offered for the project, is about $2.1 million more than the town bonded for the work in August 2003.

Public bids opened August 23 resulted in only one bid for the testing portion of the project and four bids for construction work. On August 30 the Public Building and Site Commission recommended awarding contracts to Wing’s Testing & Balancing Company of Branford at $24,100 for the testing and balancing portion of the project, and Tomlinson Hawley Patterson of Trumbull for a total of $4,566,000 for the construction package.

However, the board agreed to move forward requesting a total of $5.46 million for all the work in the event any additional or possible hidden costs related to the project surface. The increase and implications of cost overruns on the Hawley project are expected to be discussed at next Monday’s Board of Finance meeting.

At an August 16 BOE meeting, district business director Ron Bienkowski said the normal process for handling projects of this extent begins with the Public Building and Site Commission. That panel then makes recommendations to the Board of Education as to whether the bid should be awarded.

The financing particulars are then reviewed by the Board of Finance whose collective recommendation then moves to the Legislative Council for action. The awarding of contracts, if approved by the council, becomes contingent on town meeting approval.

Board members asked Mr Bienkowski if some of the costs of the Hawley renovations could be covered by state funding. Mr Bienkowski said that the work being done to the building is considered to be maintenance and updating of the existing facility and that it is not reimbursable by the state.

The state expects maintenance of such a facility to be left in the care of the town and the school system, since little or none of the work is related to mandatory air quality improvements. Mr Bienkowski said much of the work is planned to occur next summer when the building has a minimal number of occupants.

Board member Paul Mangiafico clarified that the new numbers represented the scope of the project already approved and bonded for in 2003. Mr Bienkowski responded that the scope of the project would be the same, but supplies and materials costs have increased significantly since the bond was approved.

Mr Bienkowski said that there were often additional hidden costs and “surprises” that add hidden costs to the project as it proceeds.

Board member Thomas Gissen said he understood that such cost overruns were part and parcel to renovation projects of this nature.

“When you are doing renovations, you find more things hidden above ceilings and behind walls than when you are doing a new [building] expansion,” Mr Gissen said.

David Nanavaty admitted that the CIP and original bond initiative apparently undervalued what the renovations would cost.

“It’s important for us to look at these figures,” he said. “Were looking at a [cost] increase of over two million dollars.”

 

Heating Costs Discussed

In other business the board briefly touched on the topic of oil consumption for the upcoming year and the effects of increased prices as well as the repercussions yet to be seen by Hurricane Katrina. Board member Paul Mangiafico asked, “How are we going to address the issue? What is our oil strategy?” He went on to comment that whether to lock in to heating oil prices is a guessing game, but that the board needed to be watchful as time is marching on and cold weather will soon be approaching.

Superintendent Evan Pitkoff reassured the board that the storage tanks for heating oil were 95 percent full at this time. He told the board, “Yes. Prices can go up higher but we hope the prices will begin to stabilize and reduce. We are not going to lock in at a price right now.” He went on to comment that Building and Grounds Supervisor Dominick Posca is always diligent at fine tuning the heating systems. Dr Pitkoff said that this coming school year the thermostats in the classrooms would be set at 68 degrees rather than 70, which would help cut the cost of fuel consumption.

Board members addressed concerns for preschool age students or others with special needs that may need to have the temperatures set slightly higher but were reassured by Dr Pitkoff that Mr Posca was capable of making variances in heat room by room if necessary.

Another item of discussion centered around a change of the public participation portion for future meetings, reducing it from two opportunities to one. At the bottom of the agenda sheet, available at every board of education meeting, a note has been added stating that the board welcomes commentary from citizens regarding agenda items.

Board members requested that speakers be concise in their comments, avoid repetition of comments made by other speakers, and limit their comments to no more than three minutes. The board also welcomes comments in writing or accepts questions via the Citizen’s Request information form available at every meeting.