The first of three phases of window replacement is taking place at Haverhill Police Station, 40 Bailey Blvd. (WHAV News photograph.)

Black mold is appearing throughout the Haverhill Police Station as a result of leaks from low-quality, misfitting windows installed in 1999, police said. (WHAV News photograph.)

A mistake made 17 years ago when the Haverhill Police Station was constructed is not only proving costly today with the replacement of windows there, but made even more expensive by what, some officials term, a piecemeal approach.

The city, attempting to stay on budget and spread out costs over several years, is replacing a third of the windows at a time. Its an approach criticized by police officers because water leaks from remaining windows and resulting mold mean a delay in clearing air quality issues. Haverhill Purchasing Agent and Energy Manager Orland Pacheco confirmed the staged approach.

Right now, whats ongoing, based on the bids this office sent out, only does one-third of the windows. I think the concern is doing the project in phases will make the overall solution a lot more expensive, Pacheco said, paraphrasing police.

In an interview requested by WHAV last week, Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro explained the buildings original contractor improperly sized all of the window openings at the police station. This meant the originally intended, commercial-grade windows could not be used. Inferior, off-the-shelf windows were installed instead, did not fit properly and were placed without proper supports and insulation.

The full extent of the original poor installation was revealed when contractors arrived recently, opened the walls and found haphazardly installed shims supporting the older windows. Worse, the chief said, windows on both sides of brick columns cant be replaced at the same time because a whole column of brick between them would collapse. He summarized the 1999 building project as criminally negligent.

Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro said recent window replacement reveals the originals were poorly installed with no insulation and makeshift supports.

DeNaro said the first phase of installation costs $350,000, but replacing windows all at once would have cost $1.1 million. Now, he said, estimates suggest it will costs more than $1.5 million to complete the project.

Pacheco explained why replacing the windows in three stages, rather than all at once, could cause costs to rise.

Its a lot of scaffolding for that project that has to come up and come down. In addition, DeNaro said, replacement of the remaining two-thirds of the windows in the future likely means higher costs due to inflation and bond interests costs. Pacheco said, however, interest rates could go down.

As WHAV reported in 2015, a study by the state Department of Health found the police station requires substantial indoor and outdoor repairs because of chronic moisture infiltration and visible microbial growth.

Haverhill Police Patrolmens Association President Rick Welch said the union received a promise from Mayor James J. Fiorentini mold cleanup would take place continually until all of the new windows are in place. He said he accepts the offer, but believes it would have been better to change all of the windows and address mold all at once. Superior Officers Association President Robert P. Pistone agreed, saying, commonsense says why would you begin to waste money on mold remediation?

We cant get rid of the mold until we get ready of the water, the chief added. Pacheco said he agrees with the chiefs logic

Obviously, you want to mitigate water infiltration into the police department. That is the end goal, I think, because otherwise you havent really solved the problem, Pacheco said.

The building was constructed in 1999 at an initial cost of $6.6 million. Donham & Sweeney, Boston, served as architect; Palladium Construction Corp., Wakefield, was general contractor and DM Berg Consultants, Needham, performed engineering services. A subcontractor declared bankruptcy during construction, delaying the buildings opening a year and after concerns about leaking roofs and poor workmanship.

Link:
Phasing in Windows at Station More Costly; Slows Mold Cleanup - WHAV News

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The city of Hazleton will use a $350,000 state gaming grant for replacing windows and completing roof and masonry repairs at City Hall.

The much-needed overhaul began taking shape with the arrival of warmer temperatures in recent weeks and includes work to replace 45 aged windows on the first and second floors with energy-efficient materials, said Dominic Yannuzzi, of Alfred Benesch & Co., the citys contracted engineering firm.

Additional upgrades include the installation of air conditioning units in the upper levels of Council Chambers, masonry repairs and a re-coating of the roof, he said.

The upgrades should lead to improvements in controlling the climate in Council Chambers, which fluctuates with the weather and creates an uncomfortable atmosphere in extreme heat and cold, Yannuzzi said.

Theyre going to help with reducing heat loss in the winter and reduce heat gain inside of City Hall in the summer, he said.

Improvements should also eliminate leaks and address a deteriorated section of the ceiling directly behind a seating area reserved for city council members, Yannuzzi said.

The city secured a $350,000 gaming grant from Luzerne Countys Local Share Account in late 2015 for the project, Yannuzzi said.

Contracts were awarded last year and additional time was needed for ordering and manufacturing the windows, the engineer said.

Oakridge Construction, Drums, is installing windows while Hudak Waterproofing and Masonry Restoration, Taylor, will complete roofing and masonry upgrades.

Approximately 45 windows will be replaced throughout the project, including a large set on the west side of City Hall, Yannuzzi said.

Officials evaluated conditions of existing windows and opted to replace the worst of the lot, he said.

Crews will replace windows that are between 30 and 40 years old, he said.

The majority of the project consists of window replacement, but Yannuzzi said some money has been earmarked for masonry and roof repairs.

The grant wasnt large enough to pay for an entire roof replacement so the city opted to repair sections while re-sealing the entire roof, he said.

It basically is repairing bad areas and re-coating the roof to be able to extend the life for a few more years until the city can receive additional funding to do a total re-roof, he said. Were going to look at alleviating the leaks.

Scaffolding towered over desks and chairs inside Council Chambers earlier this week and a thin layer of dust coated furniture inside the room.

The project will be completed next month, Yannuzzi said.

Contact the writer: sgalski@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3586

Continued here:
New windows, repairs coming to City Hall - Standard Speaker

The high court's ruling on Friday reinstates the class-action lawsuit brought by four Idaho residents who said they were denied the right to a fair trial because of Idaho's underfunded and faulty public defense system.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court says a lawsuit over Idaho's faulty public defense system can move forward against all the defendants except one: Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter.

The high court's ruling on Friday reinstates the class-action lawsuit brought by four Idaho residents who said they were denied the right to a fair trial because of Idaho's underfunded and faulty public defense system.

A lower court judge dismissed the case after the judge said he believed it would violate the separation of powers to require adequate state funding.

The American Civil Liberties Union-Idaho promptly appealed on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The Idaho Supreme Court said the ACLU does have the right to sue the state government over the problems. But the justices said the governor shouldn't be named as a defendant because he wasn't the cause.

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Idaho high court revives lawsuit over lousy public defense - KBOI-TV

MERIDEN After a heated debate on the possibility of violating the city charter to extend the deadline for adopting a budget, the Finance Committee voted to send City Manager Guy Scaifes latest budget revision with a 40.45 mill rate to the City Council.

The $194.9 million spending plan is more than $3.5 million above what Scaife originally proposed in March. The latest version strikes $223,000 from the citys capital fund, including cutting a proposed camera system to broadcast municipal meetings, softball field upgrades and window replacement at a Public Works building.

Scaife noted the hardships of compiling the budget, citing the recent revaluation which reduced the grand list by nearly 4 percent, and over $4.6 million in fixed increases such as contractual raises, debt service payments and pension contributions.

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The latest budget is a $3.5 million tax increase, Scaife said, noting the figure falls over $1 million below the citys fixed cost increases.

An alternate mill rate of 39.8 could be achieved by lowering the budget by $1.75 million which would mean cutting between 17 and 23 jobs, Scaife said. Scaife recommended violating city charter by waiting a month to enact the budget until more is known about state funding, calling the budget deadline arbitrary.

Theres no penalty if you dont adhere to (the deadline), but what I find challenging is it is really in the publics best interest to adhere to a date that has no operation impact if we delay it several weeks because at the end of the day what we all want is a mill rate that is respectful of what the public can absorb but also tries to deal with our strategic and technical needs, Scaife said. My fear is if we go forward without state revenues and lock in on a number, it could be excessive and we would have had to do severe cuts that would have not been necessary with a (different) budget or the number could be even worse, we would have needed to make deeper cuts due the state, due to their financial dilemma, cut us worse than what was expected.

Several Democratic councilors vehemently opposed the idea, including Majority Leader Brian Daniels. You are setting a precedent of intentionally violating the charter that sets forth a lot of what the powers and responsibility for the city are. You do it for this then someone says ... lets just violate the charter (next year), Daniels said. We have a city charter. Its a legal document that binds the power and responsibility for the people that run the city.

Republican and We the People councilors were open to delaying the process, including Walter Shamock, Lenny Rich, Bob Williams and Joseph Carabetta III. Im for it. Why wouldnt we? Theres no consequences to us making that decision so in that respect I would like to have more information, Rich said. We got time, whats the rush? Why are we mandated by a council thats not in business any more?

The charter, if it was so important, they would have made a penalty.

A motion to violate the charter and delay the process ultimately failed.

Finance Committee Chairman Miguel Castro, a Democrat, shared several proposed changes that had been discussed in caucus, which included reducing the citys Capital Improvement Project budget by $1.2 million by shifting several big ticket items to the fiscal year 2018-19 budget, including a $750,000 fire truck. Castro then shared a list of items that were below Scaifes proposed $50,000 capital bonding threshold to moved from the capital equipment budget to CIP.

The Committee did not act on those changes, however, opting to leave it up for discussion at the full City Council meeting next week. The Committee then voted to send Scaifes revised $194.9 million budget to the City Council.

By charter, the City Council must vote on the budget Monday to meet its deadline.

ltauss@record-journal.com 203-317-2231 Twitter: @LeighTaussRJ

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Meriden Finance Committee sends budget with 40.45 mill rate to Council - Meriden Record-Journal

Montana schools watch push for...

MISSOULA, Mont. - For Frenchtown School District Superintendent Randy Cline it is a story eight years in the making. It's also a story that could drag on far longer than it has already. With the Montana infrastructure bill failing to pass the State House by two votes on Thursday, the $426,408 Frenchtown is requesting is in jeopardy once again.

This is the fourth time Cline has requested the money to replace the aging and inefficient windows at Frenchtown Elementary. Staff say windows show up with new cracks all the time. The windows also help make it toasty in the summer and frigid in the winter.

Rather than replacing the whole heating a cooling system, which would probably cost near $1 million Cline opted to ask for window replacement starting four legislative sessions -- 8 years -- ago.

"We were very close to getting it funded the first year, but then we've dropped further down the (priority) list, as there's been more infrastructure needs in schools that have become more important," says Cline.

The Frenchtown request is now 39th out of 50 approved projects that could be funded by bonds if the bill passes. However, that's become less likely, as the amount of money set aside for school projects dropped from $30 million when the bill was first introduced to just $16.3 million.

The total bill will fund about $80 million for sewer, road and school projects as well as the Montana Veterans Home. Other schools higher on the priority list for funding include St. Ignatius, Stevensville, and Polson. Stevensville is looking for close to $2 million.

Read the latest version of the bill here.

Some legislators have tried to lower the cost of the infrastructure bills this session, arguing that school improvements were not as essential as roads, sewers and bridges in a tight budget environment.

Originally the Frenchtown window project cost north of $500,000, but around $150,000 was used to replace the windows in worst shape in 2016. That money was part of a $750,000 levy that passed by just 10 votes in late 2015. Cline says if the state money doesn't come through he will continue to scrape up money here and there to replace the windows gradually.

Cline says he would rather the legislature take on a little debt now than have to deal with the ever-growing pile of infrastructure problems in schools down the road.

"Just because you ignore it doesn't mean it will go away," he says.

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Montana schools watch last minute push for infrastructure bill - NBC Montana

Apr 25, 2017 - (Newswire)

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Opt for Timely Window Replacement in Fitchburg WI | WireUpdate ... - WireUpdate

Apr 25, 2017 - (Newswire)

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Original Source: https://www.newswire.com/news/pick-from-a-wide-range-of-options-when-it-comes-to-window-replacement-19374383

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Pick From a Wide Range of Options When It Comes to Window ... - WireUpdate

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Petersburg, FL - April 25, 2017 - (Newswire.com)

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