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06/23/2015 02:30 PMHow much will it cost to make the remaining fixes needed to fix what ails the Riggio Building? About $217,000, according to project committee lead Dennis Hallahan.
Hallahan and the Riggio Building Committee he leads was charged by the selectmen and the Board of Finance to get a complete list of estimates both to fix the building and bring it up to code requirements found lacking by the town’s building inspector last year.
The original October 2014 building inspection conducted by Fire Marshal George Rehberg and his deputy Richard Leighton was triggered by a tenant complaining about non-functional emergency lights. Once the fire marshal inspection began, however, it had to be conducted room by room. As a result of this thorough inspection, a laundry list of code violations was identified.
Following this inspection, Rehberg issued an official Notice of Violation Letter to First Selectman Noel Bishop for the Riggio Building issues. The notice required the town immediately correct three critical code violations: the lack of working emergency lighting and placards, absence of panic bars on exterior doors required for quick exit in a fire emergency, and absence of a working fire alarm system in the building.
These critical code-related violations have now been addressed at the Riggio Building through newly installed fixes that together cost the town about $40,000.
Other code violations and building issues, while important, were deemed less critical for protecting the safety of the occupants, so the town was given more time to craft a remedy for those problems.
The new cost estimates that Hallahan provided were to address these other code and building component issues.
Most important on this list is to replace the aging and leaking roof. Leaks through the roof and around the chimney were identified as the likely cause of the failure of the emergency lighting system. The leaks also did other damage to the building’s interior. Before the roof can be replaced, however, the town first has to remove and relocate the roof-mounted antennas that serve the town’s Emergency Operations center.
Hallahan told the selectmen the cost to move the antennae to a separate tower would be about $25,000. Once this was done, the cost to replace the Riggio Building roof would be about $58,000.
In addition to these two major tasks, other code-related and building maintenance work is required. On this list are repairs to rugs and stair treads, to the electrical system, to staircase railings, and various fixes requiring skilled carpenters. Finally, the building interior needs to be re-painted. Completing these tasks would cost about $27,500.
The biggest unfinished work task on the to-do list is to install a fire-sprinkler system in the building for $103,000.
It’s also possible that the town may not have to install a sprinkler system if the building is deemed historic. Some exemptions from this requirement have been authorized by the state fire marshal when a building is historic and/or is in a federal historic district.
The selectmen recently authorized the filing of an application to the federal government to get the Town Center area district declared a federal historic district. This designation, if awarded, would make the town eligible for state grants for municipal building restoration in the district and provide the basis for an exemption for certain code requirements such as sprinkler-system installation.
At the last Board of Selectmen meeting, Hallahan’s report was discussed, but the selectmen did not act to set aside any money to pay for the additional tasks at this time.
Finance Manager Andrew Urban said that about $100,000 is already set aside in next year’s approved town budget for capital project work on town buildings. Should the selectmen decide to move forward on all of the remaining work except for sprinkler installation, funding to pay for these tasks would be available on July 1, the first date of the new fiscal year.