A specialist from the state fire marshal’s office has inspected the town-owned John P. Riggio Building, providing the town with a second opinion on code violations identified in 2014 by Deputy Fire Marshal Richard Leighton. Following the state inspection, the town received both good and bad news.

Problems in the town-owned Riggio Building, which housed the Westbrook Youth & Family Services Agency, Great Land Conservation Trust, Westbrook Honor Guard, Stein Surveys, the Office of Emergency Management, and Westbrook Fire Department Administrative Offices, came to light in December 2014 when a tenant noticed inoperable exit signs that led to the fire marshal’s inspection. The issue was traced to a leaky roof and related water damage that shorted out some electrical wiring. Once the inspection started, however, other issues and violations were uncovered.

The fire alarm system in the building dates to 1972 and no proof was found in town files that annual inspections were completed to ensure operability. Not installed were required one-hour fire separation barriers between the basement and the first floor and around the basement furnace.

There were no installed panic-door hardware on key doors used for emergency egress. Both the building’s interior and exterior doors were not of the type required to meet code. Emergency exit signs and lighting weren’t in working order or installed as the code required. The electrical outlet near a working sink was not a GFCI type, and the open stairway and railings did not meet code standards. The town was given 15 days to address the issues.

The town began some repairs 30 days after the warning was issued, but held off on some of the more extensive and expensive remedies, such as the installation of sprinklers, in part to determine if less expensive remedies would suffice.

Late last month, Fire and Life Safety Specialist Michael Kellet of the state fire marshal’s office conducted the state’s inspection. Joining him on the Riggio Building walk-through were Riggio Building Code Committee members Dennis Hallahan and George Pytlik, Ehlert, and Emergency Management Director Don Izzo. Izzo was interested in hearing Kellet’s comments, too, since the town’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is in a wing of the Riggio Building.

The good news was that Kellet said the Riggio Building was a two-story structure with an attic as opposed to Leighton’s view of it as a three-story structure. This distinction matters since it affects what code requirements apply. A three-story structure would require a new fire-sprinkler system, but a two-story structure with an attic would not.

As a two-story structure with an attic, the town can save the more than $100,000 cost to install a fire-sprinkler system in the building.

Code Project Committee Chair Hallahan confirmed that Kellet and the state fire marshal’s office did rule that the Riggio Building is a two-story structure with an attic, but to firm up this designation, the town will have to remove those items still stored in the attic and in the basement. Hallahan is already working with Public Works Director John Riggio to complete this task.

“I was pleased with [Kellet’s] visit, for one, because we got a second professional opinion,” said Ehlert. “I am disappointed though that some officials resisted the idea of a state fire marshal inspection.”

The bad news was that other required tasks on the code fix list will cost more than originally anticipated. Among those higher costs is labor and materials to build a one-hour fire separation barrier around the basement boiler.

Hallahan has already begun to get firm quotes for the various code-related and building maintenance tasks identified in Kellet’s building tour and by previous inspections.

On the project task list is work to install the needed fire separation barriers, to replace the aging and leaking roof, to relocate the roof-top antennas to a concrete pad on the ground, for some electrical work, for carpentry to replace interior railings that are too low, and to install new carpeting in some areas.

All of Kellet’s verbal comments from the walk-through he noted were preliminary. His draft report on his October Riggio Building inspection noting those fixes the building needs arrived last week. Hallahan is reviewing it for guidance. A final state report, to be finished after a re-inspection of the building, should arrive within the next week.

At that point, Hallahan will go before the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to present the final list of Riggio Building fixes and the firm quotes he has received to complete each of them. Then it will be up to the BOS to accept the report and request the Board of Finance approve the needed funds. Since the amount will likely be more than $20,000, that request would then move on to a Town Meeting vote set for Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.

The BOS will likely be ready to approve a request for funds for Riggio Building upgrades at its next meeting, a special one, set for Monday, Nov. 9 starting at 2:30 p.m.