After nearly three years, the members of the Town Hall and Hildreth House Construction Committee will get a well-earned rest when their appointments expire June 30. Construction at Town Hall, which began in the spring of 2015, was finally completed earlier this year, and Phase 1 of the Hildreth House renovation is now complete. This week the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the final two payments to Hildreth contractor Classic Construction. And construction committee Chairman Rick Maiore told the selectmen at their Tuesday evening meeting that Classic did a great job and that the project came in on time and on budget.
A few items that were not part of the contracted work at Town Hall and Hildreth House remain to be done. Town Administrator Tim Bragan said that the area around Town Hall will be cleaned up and planted with grass. Selectwoman Kara Minar asked Bragan about the runoff that has been seen heading toward the building during heavy rains. Bragan said that he and Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart have a plan to direct the water away from the building. Bragan also said that the DPW will address the rotting fascia boards on Hildreth House, discovered when the wooden gutters were recently taken down. The gutters will be replaced with new aluminum gutters, and the work will be paid for with building maintenance funds.
Selectwoman Lucy Wallace said that the Council on Aging will host an open house on Sunday, June 25, from noon to 3 p.m. at Hildreth House. All COA staff will be present to lead tours and answer questions about the renovation, and residents will be able to experience firsthand the newly paved driveway and parking area.
During Maiore’s report to the selectmen, he thanked the other committee members for their service: Laura Andrews, Pablo Carbonell, Al Combs, and Jack Guswa, who served for all three years, and Connie Larrabee, who joined the committee for the Hildreth House portion of the project. Bill Barton left the committee shortly after construction on Hildreth House began because of other commitments.
“We’ve come to the end of the road,” Maiore said, joking that “no one on the committee wants to be reappointed.”
And the Press would like to add that it is happy to retire its only six-letter committee name acronym. Farewell, THHHCC.
