Town meeting set for Thursday on Stafford school roof replacement

Ben Crnic, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

Oct. 5—STAFFORD — Residents will have the chance to vote on approving more than $1.8 million to replace the roof of Stafford Middle School at a special town meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday

Water drainage issues and leaks plague the existing roof, which needs to be replaced, First Selectman Sal Titus said.

According to the meeting agenda, the total cost of the roof replacement for the school, at 21 Levinthal Run, is $1,863,358.

Town officials are expecting a state grant reimbursement of about 71% for the project, or roughly $1.06 million.

As for the rest of the cost, $501,000 would come from the Board of Education budget surplus, and $198,000 would come from the school board capital improvement fund.

The remaining $100,000 would come from the town unreserved general fund cash balance, which was approved by the Board of Finance at its Aug. 29 meeting.

At that meeting, Albert Jacunski of Jacunski Humes Architects, LLC estimated that construction would start next summer, because of ongoing maintenance of roof patching to prevent leaks.

Building material costs for the roof have gone up, he said, and that the new roof would likely be made of rubber rather than asphalt, as it is now.

At Thursday's town meeting, which will be held at the Warren Memorial Town Hall at 1 Main St., residents also will be asked to approve the Board of Education's application for the state grant and to name the board as building committee for the project.

Residents also will be asked to allow the Board of Selectmen to authorize preparation of schematic drawings and outline specifications for the project.

In other business, residents who attend the meeting will be asked to approve two budget transfers. One involves transferring $28,793 from the Staffordville School budget to software and computer services, and the other involves transferring $21,764 from the town's recycling budget to salaries for town employees who work overtime during snow emergencies.

Ben covers Vernon and Stafford for the Journal Inquirer.