By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Land Preservation and Open Space Acquisition Committee (LPOS) at its Dec. 3 meeting discussed upcoming Fenn Farm maintenance and repairs. Also, members were asked to review bylaw updates, and an election of officers was set for the January meeting.
Member Ray Pietrorazio said no progress had been made on cow-barn roof repairs because a specification for bids was needed to get quotes from roofing contractors. Members had agreed at their Nov. 5 meeting that the work was not sufficiently urgent to bypass the town’s bidding process even though two roofers had cautioned about a collapse. He suggested Town Engineer John Calabrese assist in developing the specification. Chairman John Cookson told him to include Building Inspector Ollie Leduc and Public Works Director Dan Norton. Pietrorazio said it would be best to move the process along quickly so the work could start before the more expensive spring busy season.
Pietrorazio said masonry repairs on collapsing horse barn walls are still waiting for a third written proposal. Two quotes were received in November, and he is waiting on one from Miri’s Masonry of Naugatuck. He said an area on the west wall needed to be supported by jacks so loose stones and dirt could be removed and the stones cemented back in place. Cookson tabled the evaluation of quotes until the January meeting.
On the topic of asbestos removal from furnace pipes in the farm-house basement, Cookson said a purchase order had been issued to Abatement Plus LLC of Windsor by Norton after two bids for the remediation had been reviewed by him. The total cost is $4,275 for removing and disposing of the asbestos and then reinsulating the pipes with Fiberglas. The work is expected to be complete before Christmas. After questions on the lack of a thickness specification for the new insulation, Cookson said it was in the hands of Norton.
The next issue was electrical service repairs. Cookson said a contract for replacing old wiring from the CL&P weatherhead point into the farmhouse and upgrading the electrical service to 200 amps from 60 was awarded to Mark Electric of Middlebury by Norton earlier in the day. The work also will include a manual transfer switch to an existing backup generator.
In procedural matters, Cookson distributed LPOS bylaws originally adopted in 2007. He asked commissioners to bring suggestions and corrections for any possible updates to the January meeting. He said the bylaws called for an election of officers, including chairman and secretary, which also would be done in January. Members noted the need to replace resigned commissioner Ken Long and possibly also Kris Jacobi, who has not been attending meetings. Cookson said a written resignation was required, and he would contact Jacobi to see if she was still interested in being a member. In other procedural matters, a form for acknowledgment of the recently adopted town code of ethics was distributed to each commissioner.
The next regular LPOS meeting will be Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at 6 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center.
