The Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved two maintenance projects for Guilford’s schools, with work expected to begin right away on repairing more than 60 non-functioning windows in Adams Middle School, and beginning the process of replacing the football field and track at Guilford High School, which likely won’t be completed until 2021.

Director of Operations and Facilities Cliff Gurnham told the BOS at a virtual meeting that the synthetic turf field had exceeded its life expectancy by about six years, and while it was still usable, it needs replacement.

“The field itself gets inspected every year and tested every year to ensure that it meets all the requirements that you can have regular play on it...It’s in good working order, it’s just really getting worn out,” Gurnham said.

The BOS approved a contract with New Britain-based architectural firm Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc., for design of the field at a cost of $17,500.

Kaestle Boos previously consulted with the town in 2018 when another synthetic turf field failed and was replaced under warranty. The cost for that field was approximately $1.1 million. Gurnham said the town was likely to go to bid for the construction phase of the project in March or February 2021, in consultation with the Board of Education.

The windows at Adams Middle School, which have been essentially non-functional for some time due to a failure of the mechanism that guides and keeps them from falling, will be repaired while students are currently out of class, Gurnham said.

That project was awarded to Rocky Hill-based Millenium Builders at a cost of about $53,000, though Gurnham said the town has been working to get reimbursed for some of the original cost due to the failure.

According to Gurnham, the windows were replaced in 2009 by a company that is no longer in business. Subsequently the balance mechanisms on many windows that kept them from falling or “moving unexpectedly” failed, creating an “extreme safety concern.”

Many windows are permanently closed, and general policy is that windows in the school are not opened at all, according to Gurnham.

Though the windows are not being replaced, the labor and cost is higher due to the fact the windows have to be disassembled to replace the mechanisms.

That project is funded through a 2013-’14 bond referendum, according to documents provided by the town.