nothin New Haven Independent | BOS Appoints Two of Four Temporary Building…

BOS Appoints Two of Four Temporary Building Commission Members

With Permission

Two department heads have been appointed to serve as temporary members of the Public Building Commission to oversee the Community House/Senior Center project; and two seats are still open.

The Board of Selectman (BOS) unanimously appointed Dagmar Ridgway, director of the Canoe Brook Senior Center; and Alex Palluzzi, Jr., director of the Parks and Recreation Department, to serve on the commission.

Diana Stricker Photo

First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove (pictured)said anyone interested in volunteering for the other two seats could contact him at Town Hall. He was responding to a question Wednesday night from third selectman Jack Ahern, who asked how people could volunteer to serve on the building commission. 

Diana Stricker Photo

Ahern (pictured)has been pressing Cosgrove to make commission appointments for the Community House/Senior Center project. Ahern said last month that he thought the Public Building Commission should have had more oversight of the project over the past several months. Cosgrove said the commission would again be taking over the renovation and expansion project since the $12.1 million funding had been approved by the Representative Town Meeting. (RTM).

The maximum number of temporary members for each project was increased to four, instead of two, last year when the RTM amended the ordinance that created the Public Building Commission. Temporary members may only vote on matters concerning their project. The commission has five permanent members.

New Building Commissioner

The BOS also filled a vacancy on the Public Building Commission that was created when Paul Cianci moved. Robert Barnett, an architect who served as project manager for several national projects, will serve as a permanent member of the commission.

Barnett previously served as a temporary member of the commission for the Walsh Intermediate School project. On Wednesday, the BOS appointed Vincent Giordano III to fill the commission’s temporary member vacancy for the Walsh project. He is a project manager at the family’ s Giordano Construction Co. in Branford, with experience as both a contractor and a construction manager.

Assessing Contamination

File Photo

Thomas Arcari of Quisenberry Arcari Architects.

In other business, the BOS unanimously approved a $65,600 proposal from the DTC engineering firm of Hamden in regard to assessing contamination at the Community House site. The price does not include the actual clean-up. DTC has been working on the renovation and expansion project with Town Hall and Quisenberry Arcari Architects LLC of Farmington.

Several environmental studies have already been completed to assess the amount of industrial contamination at the site.

The proposal Wednesday addressed a number of items, including a pre-renovation asbestos survey and testing; supplemental Phase III environmental site assessment; bid assistance and oversight/abatement monitoring; and post-abatement clearance testing.

The Community House is a half-block from the former Atlantic Wire factory which went bankrupt and was later convicted of federal crimes and state violations in its systemic pollution of the Branford River.

Remediation has been ongoing at the Atlantic Wire site, which is the proposed location of the Atlantic Wharf upscale apartment and retail project.

Cosgrove said at the meeting that funds for the assessment and remediation at the Community House site were included in the $12.1 million allocation that was approved by the Board of Finance and the RTM

###

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

There were no comments