Architect Sought for Stanley T. Williams Renovation

After the tabled selecting an architect for the Stanley T. Williams Elementary School interior renovation project, the Permanent Projects Building Committee made its own recommendation at last night's meeting, passing a resolution to send a letter to the council recommending that Salamone Associates be awarded the project.

Life Care Design is the low bidder and the first firm to be considered, but committee member Jack Krasko firmly recommended Salamone Associates because they are a HVAC company that can do the air conditioning job as well as design it.

"The recommendation to the Town Council is not to go to the lowest bidder, but to the firm that is most responsible," Krasko said and the committee voted unanimously to recommend Salamone Associates.

The Stanley T. Williams renovation project hasn't started yet because the architect hasn't been chosen. The Town Council may act on the committee's recommendation at its next meeting on Sept. 20 and make a decision.

The town has requested an additional $50,000 in state aid to complete the project. It originally requested $50,000 and was awarded $20,000. It hopes to receive a response from the state by October or November on its new request, which would bank roll additonal work on the project beyond the air conditioning.

The issue of middle school and high school roofs was another subject at last night's meeting. Work has been done on both roofs but the high school's needs the most work. Two sections of the high school roof have been replaced and the committee is waiting for the Town Council to decide whether it will pay to replace other sections of the roof. The new middle school roof is leaking and the committee voted to send a letter to Mark Caputo, a roofing consultant to determine where the leaks are coming from.

The committee considered giving the work to another firm, but decided to allow Mark Caputo to keep the job.

Both roofs suffered from three to four inches of water from Hurricane Irene.