Happy Thanksgiving !
All the best to you and your families !

Curt Leng

Staying on Top of the Hamden Middle School Project

The School Building Committee has been active the last several weeks attempting to close out some important outstanding issues that need attention from our contractor, Konover Construction. This oversight came to a head this week and I think it had positive results in the form of increased attention from our construction company.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions about these issues. There are some articles from the Hamden Daily News and the New Haven Register.

Hamden Daily News (Sharon Bass):

Yikes, It Leaks An anonymous source sent the HDN a memo yesterday written by Councilman and School Building Committee Chair Curt Leng, saying the new middle school's roof is leaking and there are water problems on the athletic fields. The matters are to be taken up by the SBC tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Board of Education building, 60 Putnam Ave.


My Memo:

November 15, 2006

FROM: Councilman Curt Leng
Finance Committee, Chairman
School Building Committee, Chairman
DATE: November 14, 2006
RE: New Hamden Middle School Issues

CC: Mayor Henrici
Scott Jackson, CAO
School Building Committee Members
Turner Construction
Tai Soo Kim

It has come to my attention that there are several areas of the New Hamden Middle School roof that are leaking.

You can understand my shock in hearing of this problem, which despite some apparent attempts to correct, has still not been fully rectified. This is an absolute disgrace considering that we have had children in this brand new $54 M facility for a full 2-months into our school year.

In an e-mail last week, I asked Konover Construction to present the School Building Committee with a detailed report as to why the roof is leaking and what is being done to ameliorate the situation. To-date I have received no such report and no such e-mail. I decided today to put my formal request in writing via this memo to accentuate the urgency of the matter.

If a full report – including a detailed list of what steps have been taken to-date, as well as plans for fully addressing this issue - are not in the hands of School Building Committee members by Thursday, I will be hesitant to let ANY additional Konover items be addressed at the SBC meeting.

In addition, there have been reports from staff, SBC members and residents about ponding and problematic water conditions in the athletic fields of the New School. I would like to add this matter to items that need to be addressed at the next meeting and will expect an informational report.

If Konover has already addressed the situation(s), then a report will suffice. If the issues are not addressed, I would like a representative from M & M on-hand to discuss the matter in more detail.

By copy of this memo, I ask anyone with photographs of the conditions mentioned – both inside and out - to please bring them to the meeting Thursday for review. I know there are several that have been shared.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call or e-mail
at councilmancurtlleng@sbcglobal.net.


New Haven Register Article:

Hamden panel wants answers on new school’s leaks

Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor

-HAMDEN — Armed with information that there are leaks in the new Hamden Middle School, the School Building Committee tonight is expecting answers from Konover Construction, which built the $54 million school on Dixwell Avenue.

Councilman Curt Leng, D-6, committee chairman, said he hopes he receives good news from the contractor when the committee meets at 7:30 p.m. in the Board of Education building at 60 Putnam Ave.

On Tuesday, Leng fired off an e-mail to Konover Project Executive James E. Culkin, expressing dismay that he has heard that "several areas of the new Hamden Middle School roof are leaking. You can understand my shock in hearing of this problem, which, despite some apparent attempts to correct, has still not been fully rectified.

"This is an absolute disgrace, considering that we have had children in this brand-new $54 million facility for a full two months into our school year."

"There are no leaks in Hamden Middle School," Culkin said Wednesday, adding that the issue would be discussed tonight. "People get information and they take things out of proportion."

"I have to respectfully disagree," said Leng, who has received reports from parents and school staff that there are problems in the cafeteria and atrium area.

"Maybe he’s fixed them all. That’s wonderful, but I have nothing in writing. I want them to tell us this roof is tight. We’re not getting that answer."

Culkin responded Tuesday, an hour after Leng sent his memo to Culkin, the press and town and school officials, saying Konover has been working with school staff and school board Director of Facilities Mark Albanese.

He wrote that the leaks were addressed as soon as they were reported.

Two of the leaks, Culkin wrote, were caused by windows that were left open by teachers. One window leak was caused by a small hole in the exterior seal and was expected to be repaired. He said he would have an installer check the sporadic leak in the atrium skylight and the leak in the cafeteria has been fixed.

Superintendent of Schools Alida D. Begina on Wednesday said school officials were in a "fact-finding mode" in an effort to find out "exactly what the problem is," and will make a report tonight.

Meanwhile, school officials worked quickly recently when a heavy rainstorm caused roof leaks in a part of the school board offices at 60 Putnam Ave., where the roof is being replaced.

The leak occurred in a special education program for about 40 secondary students called STEPS/REACH. The Quinnipiack Valley Health District went to the building in mid-October, the day after the rain, and found no problems with mold, Executive Director Leslie Balch said.

Students were allowed to go home early when the carpet was being ripped up, Begina said.


Hamden Daily News Article After
Informal School Building Committee Discussion:

November 17, 2006

Leaks, Lights & Fields

SBC has a chat with Konover

By Sharon Bass

Town and school administrators, reps from Konover Construction and Tai Soo Kim Architects, a couple of parents and the media waited inside 60 Putnam Ave. last night for the much-anticipated School Building Committee meeting to begin, on the leaks and other flaws at the new $54M middle school.

Unfortunately, not enough committee members showed. Only five of the 13. So there was no quorum and no official meeting. Instead of entirely chucking the session, Chair Curt Leng allowed an informal conference -- no decisions, no votes, just talk.

He and others on the SBC rigorously questioned Konover project executive Richard Culkin about the middle school’s leaks, flooded athletic fields and interior lights that never go off.

Leng rattled off some specifics: two 10-foot-by-2-foot puddles of water on the floor in the atrium after it rained; the floor along windowed walls wet after rain; a leak in the mechanical room; water-stained ceiling tiles in the cafeteria, classrooms, gym, media center conference room, second-floor hallway; etc.

“As you can see, we have a host of issues,” he said. “I hope most have been addressed.” From late October through Nov. 8, Leng and others sent e-mails to Konover as each problem was discovered. “The response I was given is, ‘There are no problems,’” Leng said. However, Culkin acknowledged flaws when he later said, “Anything that was wet was replaced.”

The chair was also peeved that the construction company did not submit a written report, which he requested, about the leaks and such. “We have no report,” said Leng.

Konover Fires Back

“My response was written,” Culkin said of an e-mail he sent to committee members. Leng said an e-mail is not a written report.

“Why weren’t you able to produce a written report?” he asked.

“You asked about roof leaks and there aren’t any,” Culkin said.

Leng told Culkin he was using semantics; he asked about water leaks, regardless of their origin.

“What do you want in the report,” said Culkin.

“Every spot that had water and how it was fixed,” Leng responded.

Discussion turned to the gutters over the cafeteria. They were filled with leaves and other tree debris and could not contain all the water from the recent rains. Middle School Principal Frank Pepe said the leaking has stopped since the gutters were cleaned out.

“Are these gutters going to have this problem” with every rain, asked SBC member Al Gorman. He was told yes unless they’re cleaned out. Gorman said that should be put on the maintenance schedule.

Culkin said three leaks were found in the main atrium and remedied with wet seal, which holds up better than the rubber sealing it replaced. He said some of the ceiling tiles were stained by condensation from the HVAC system. That, too, he said has been fixed.

“There’s no water damage from roof leaks?” asked Leng.

“No,” said Culkin.

Time to Turn Off the Lights

Shocked by the new school’s $43,000 electric bill for its first month, as reported last week in the New Haven Register, Gorman asked how the lights could be shut off. The emergency lights, which are in every classroom, hallway and staircase, are on 24/7. Turns out, a $25,000 relay box (of which the town is only responsible for one-third, with the state picking up the rest of the tab) would do the trick.

That got Gorman and Leng going. Why was the SBC not informed of that? In far less than one month, that device would have paid for itself.

“We did not get that option,” said Gorman. He pointed out that the new North Haven High, which Konover completed in 2005, had the same emergency light problem and astronomical electric bill. It was baffling how the same company neglected to inform Hamden.

“I don’t understand why that option was not brought up in committee,” said Leng.

“Why was this never brought before us?” said Superintendent Alida Begina. “We were never told.”

Culkin disagreed. He said relay boxes were “mentioned in a narrative” he gave at a SBC meeting. But, he said, they were never included in the design.

“If you could show us one [time] where you presented that [that device] would save money and we turned it down, my hat’s off to you,” said Leng. He then asked why it wasn’t in the design plan.

“I don’t know,” said Ryszard Szczpek of Tai Soo Kim.

Culkin jumped in. “I could say the same thing. When the town saw the drawings why didn’t they pick it up?” he said.

“That doesn’t make sense for the town,” said Leng. “That doesn’t make sense on any level.”

Culkin argued the relays weren’t included because of “budgetary restraints. It was batted around but not approved.”

“But this saves money in the first month,” Leng insisted.

Szczpek came in from Switzerland. “It clearly can’t continue the way it is,” the architect said. “It has to be changed. It should have been presented early in the design stages. Yes, it should have been presented to this committee. Yes.” It’s unclear who will pay for the relay switches and the water-damage repairs -- the town or Konover.

Another problem is noisy hood fans in the science rooms. Begina said teachers are having trouble teaching.

“We can’t have a noise impact on the educational system,” said Gorman. “If we know the solution, are you going to fix it?”

Szczpek said he would look into it. “A school building has never been built like this,” he said. “It’s impossible to predict every nuance.”

And there are the flooded athletic fields. “There are ponds I could swim in,” said Leng. “There are 50 geese” out there. He asked if the pools of water are the result of a design flaw. Culkin said he didn’t know and would have it inspected.

Despite the leaks, the lights and the fields, SBC resident elector Chris Daur said it’s really business as usual. “It’s very typical,” he said after the meeting. “We’re having a hard time in the end because we were trying to stay within the $54 million budget.”

The school got a temporary certificate of occupancy in August, when Konover turned the building over to the BOE. Daur said it’s not unusual to wait even years to get a permanent certificate.

During the meeting, Culkin said many of the water-stained tiles had not been replaced because they are now dry.

“I never heard of someone leaving up a wet, stained ceiling tile for two months,” said Leng, who intends to ask the Quinnipiack Valley Health District to inspect the insulation around the tiles for mold.

(Side-note: I am awaiting response from the Health Department - CL)

He’s also waiting for that final report from Konover.

Needless to say we are working to ensure that this large investment by the Town is completed in the proper manner. The school was opened on-time and is still "on-budget" and we on the School Building Committee intend to keep it that way - with the proper improvements owed to us by our vendors !

E-mail with questions and thoughts - councilmancurtleng@sbcglobal.net.

All the Best,

Curt

Checks & Balances

Checks and Balances have been returned to our Government this election day. It's a good day for America !