Two groups came before the Board of Health (BOH) at its meeting March 26 asking for variances to allow installation or replacement of carpeting in a public building; one was successful, the other is still waiting.
The variance request for replacement of a small area of carpeting in the old library, currently under renovation, was approved. But the variance request for the new elementary school involves multiple areas, and after pushback from a few members, the board voted to continue the hearing at its April 9 meeting.
Arrowstreet architect Emily Grandstaff-Rice presented a list of six areas in the new school for which her team was requesting a carpeting variance: the district administration offices, the school administration offices, the media center (library), the quiet room, the guidance room, and one storage room.
She explained that the administrative areas were adult spaces, so it “makes a lot of sense” to carpet those, and she added that the general office used by students would not be carpeted. Carpet was chosen for the large, high-ceilinged media center to help deaden sound, as well as to slow kids down in that area, and carpeting for the quiet room would help children with sensory issues. The storage room in question may become an office in the future, Grandstaff-Rice said.
BOH Chair Tom Philippou was concerned that if mold grew in the carpet, it could be spread in the air to the rest of the school, and he asked about the ventilation system. Grandstaff-Rice assured the board the school will have 100 percent fresh air, delivered low in the rooms with air returns up high to help control dust and allergens. Member Sharon McCarthy asked about water sources near the media center or offices. When Grandstaff-Rice said there are sinks in the areas above both, McCarthy said more protection under those sinks would make her feel better about voting to grant the variance.
Member Libby Levison questioned the need for carpeting in the administration areas, and Grandstaff-Rice answered that carpeting was “in line with professional offices.” But both Levison and Philippou thought the potential downside and the town’s history with carpet mold issues (see sidebar) outweighed any perceived need to carpet those areas.
Approval, with warning
The Old Library Accessibility Committee asked the board for a variance to allow carpeting in a 130-square-foot area near the building’s old side entrance. The old carpet in that area was removed to level the floor, so new flooring is needed. The hallway next to the area is tile, and McCarthy asked why the tile couldn’t be extended into the area in question. Committee member Mark Mikitarian said that matching the old tiles would be difficult, and tile would cost more than carpet. Philippou asked if there was any history of water leaks under the windows, and Mikitarian said that all the windows near the area to be carpeted are scheduled to be replaced as part of the renovation.
The board voted unanimously to approve the variance, but McCarthy warned committee members, if the carpet needs to be replaced again, especially if the reason is moisture or mold, “don’t come back here.”
Carpet Wars: What’s behind the
Board of Health’s carpet concerns
Among the sources of mold found in Hildreth Elementary School in the late 1990s was carpeting outside the kindergarten and first-grade rooms. To address this issue, the Board of Health adopted a regulation in 2002 to disallow carpeting of any kind to be installed, repaired, or replaced in any town-owned building.
At 2005 Annual Town Meeting, the attendees voted $60,000 to replace the elementary school carpeting with vinyl tile, but the kindergarten wing was left out of that project because high levels of mold found in its walls left its future uncertain.
Following that meeting the Board of Health issued an Order to Correct that demanded the removal of the K-wing carpeting. But the School Committee opposed the order because it didn’t address all the problems with the K-wing, and the Board of Selectmen didn’t want to spend money on a wing that might soon be torn down. Bill Spacciapoli, the BOH chair at the time, wrote in a letter to the editor, “the matter appeared headed for court.” With the three boards at an impasse, the Board of Health issued an Order to Close the kindergarten wing in July 2005 and again demanded the carpet be removed.
The threat to close the K-wing finally spurred the boards to work together and create a memorandum of agreement that included, among other items, replacing all of the carpeting in the K-wing with tile by January 2006. The work was completed on schedule.
Since the regulation was adopted, the board has granted variances that allowed carpeting to be installed in some areas of the library and Town Hall.
