Board discusses ed specs for Osborn Hill window replacement

The Board of Education on Tuesday night discussed educational specifications for the proposed replacement of windows at Osborn Hill Elementary School.

The district's Business Services Office, under Operations Director Tom Cullen, drafted the specifications to seek partial state reimbursement of the $791,400 for the project after it was cut from a proposed bonding package during a recent joint meeting of the boards of Selectmen and Finance. First Selectmen Michael Tetreau said the specifications and required building committee for the Osborn Hill windows, to be formed by the Board of Selectmen, could be put in place in the coming months so the project funding could be included when the town issues bonds next summer.

According to documents in the board's "Proposed Capital Improvement Projects 2012-13," all exterior windows, except four bays of windows in the media center and adjacent classrooms, would be replaced with energy-efficient, double-pane windows. Non-insulated doors that were built integral with the window frames will be also replaced with vandal-resistant, fiber-reinforced and plastic-insulated doors.

The proposal comes at a time when the Town Facilities Commission is asking for $200,000 to test the caulking around Fairfield Ludlowe High School's windows for polychlorinated biphenyls, a toxic substance commonly referred to as PCBs. The testing would be done as part of a $3 million window replacement project at that school.

At Tuesday's meeting, board member John Convertito suggested replacing all of Osborn Hill's doors to prevent revisiting the abatement issue over caulking in the future.

Cullen said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency do not want the hazardous material to drive the window replacement project, and he would not remove doors that are not part of the project just because they might be contaminated with PCBs or lead paint. He said that a school's doors or windows should all be replaced at one time as a result of their condition, not because of issues related to toxic substances.

Board member Sue Brand asked if the project would be expedited if any of the contaminated caulking were found to be crumbling or possibly airborne.

Cullen said that such caulk would be painted or caulked over to encapsulate the contaminants and then monitored.

Board member Paul Fattibene asked if there should be any specifications requiring soundproofing of the new windows.

Cullen said the new windows would provide a soundproofing aspect given they would be double-paned.

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Board discusses ed specs for Osborn Hill window replacement