Things are looking up for town building maintenance. At the Jan. 29 selectmen’s meeting, Tim Kilhart, the director of the Department of Public Works, presented the first-ever building maintenance plan for town buildings.
A few years ago, the town began allocating an annual town building maintenance budget of $75,000, and also added a stipend for a variable number of hours from a DPW worker, currently Larry Allard. But a backlog of maintenance issues, such as the malfunctioning cooling systems at the Public Safety Building, have been eating through a large portion of that annual budget.
This year, with the help of Selectman Ken Swanton and Town Administrator Tim Bragan, Kilhart was finally able to construct a spreadsheet of tasks and estimated costs for fiscal 2019, which will begin July 1.
The FY19 town building maintenance plan includes $8,000 (excluding labor) for some much-needed work on the old ambulance building, including scraping and painting the exterior, repairing windows, and repointing the chimney. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Kilhart’s list includes tasks that will provide information essential to capital planning, such as hiring an expert to inspect town building roofs and recommend replacement timelines for them. Items that will need to be purchased include a replacement for an aging water heater at Hildreth House and a water heater for the Public Safety Building. Currently, hot water is heated from the furnace there, requiring the furnace to run year-round.
Many of the repairs on the list are assigned to Allard, such as painting and repairing windows, and the only cost for those tasks will be materials. But others, including a water problem in the elevator shaft at the library, will require hiring contractors.
The total amount for repairs and new purchases in Kilhart’s list is $35,000. He told the selectmen that another $20,000 will be needed for annual preventive maintenance of town building systems, and the remaining $20,000 in the budget will be kept in reserve for any surprises.
Kilhart told the selectmen that his list doesn’t include everything on the wish lists of directors and department heads. But, he said, he is hopeful that in two or three years, the DPW will have a fully functioning building maintenance system, and it will include planning for big-ticket items. Swanton added that he hopes the plan will eventually go out at least five years.
