by Joan Eliyesil ·
Friday, August 16, 2024
During Fivesparks’ music festival in June, toilets stopped flushing and water began backing up in the furnace room of the old library, which has been the community arts collaborative’s home for the past seven years. Since then, the restrooms have been closed, temporarily replaced with a portable toilet just outside the building.
Attempts to bring in a contractor to diagnose the problem and recommend a solution have been fruitless. To make matters worse, town counsel has weighed in with the opinion that the building should be closed. All this during the cultural organization’s busy summer season, with fall programs about to start.
Mark Mikitarian, chair of the Fivesparks Facilities Committee, told the Press that initial attempts to diagnose the problem, including a camera that was used to inspect the pipes under the building, showed no obvious blockages. But evidence did suggest that there was a break in the pipe somewhere because water wasn’t getting to the pump that sends waste into the sewer system.
At the Aug. 6 Select Board meeting, former Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the board that Facilities Manager Jeff Hayes has been able to find only one contractor who was willing to look at the problem, and that person never showed up. Town Administrator Dan Nason told the Press that, because the pipes are buried under the floor of the movement room and the pump is located so close to the building, heavy machinery couldn’t be used for any of the necessary excavation. He said that type of work is labor intensive and difficult, so it’s hard for contractors to find workers able and willing to do it. He said it’s also a small job with little financial incentive for the labor involved. In addition, he said, it’s difficult to find anyone with openings in their schedule right now.
Bragan told the board that Hayes and Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart estimated the job would cost at least $50,000, which would require Town Meeting approval. Nason later confirmed that there will be an article in the Sept. 28 Town Meeting warrant asking for money for the repairs. If the town approves funding, the job can be put out to bid. But Bragan told the board that to create the bid documents, a contractor will need to diagnose the problem and explain what needs to be done. The job must then be advertised, and all of that will take time, so the earliest possible construction start date would likely be November.
Bragan also showed the board an email from Town Counsel Mark Lanza saying that the building should be closed because of the restroom issue, and he wanted to see an updated copy of the lease so he could “prepare a proper legal notice to vacate.” But Bragan also told the board that Hayes is working with the plumbing inspector and the town’s sanitation engineer, who works for the Nashoba Valley Associated Boards of Health, to come up with an agreement to find a way to keep the building open until repairs begin.
Nason said the latest plan is to find a small, local contractor who might be willing to take on the task of diagnosing the problem, recommending a solution, and coming up with an estimate. In the meantime, Fivesparks programs are continuing as planned. Mikitarian told the Press that he believes the town is doing its best to keep the building open and to minimize disruption to Fivesparks’ schedule.