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May 15th 2008

Will the Real Building Committee Please Stand Up...

by Dan Sapir

(March 20, 2003) All is not well between the Kingston Elementary School Committee and the School Building Advisory Committee. At the beginning of this year, the Advisory Committee submitted a letter to the School Committee essentially telling them that the entire $26 million+ renovation project was now complete, signed off and turned over to the town. Upon receiving the January 13 letter, the School Committee determined their function complete. Not being entirely satisfied with the end result, KESC, on February 10 created a new Building Committee replacing Chairman Jack Hurley and his committee consisting of Tom Bouchard, Melanie Meeker-Jones, Arthur Quilty, Bob Gosselin, Brian Watts and Ron Turcotte. The new Committee would consist of Joe Chaves and Missy Battista, both members of the KESC, school reading specialist Colleen Kellogg and Regional Business Manager John Tuffy as an ex-officio non-voting member.

The Kingston town clerk has received no information that would suggest that the original building committee has been relieved of its work or that a new committee had been formed. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that there have been no KESC meeting minutes for approximately four months. We questioned the school committee secretary Laura McCarthy about this after a recent meeting. She cited various computer and printer problems and illness and indicated she is very close to being caught up. She said that although the position is structured to be a paid one, she has never sought compensation. She called the Observer the next day blasting this writer for not identifying himself as a reporter and therefore all her remarks were off the record. We regard this as an odd position when dealing with public business.

Both Town Clerk Mary Lou Murzyn and Assistant Superintendent Maurice Splaine indicated frustration with regard to KESC meeting minutes.

At the heart of the controversy is the fact there are approximately $1.5 million dollars remaining from the entire project. Of that $1.1 million was designated for an on-site treatment plant. The money was never expended because the schools connected to the sewer line. There is a possibility, due to the manner in which the expense item was categorized, that it could be available for general school building and repair use. Splaine points out that there exist some major issues with the renovated KES building.
He, and others pointed out major problems such as roof leaks, a damaged gym floor, boiler room deficiencies, no stair treads on any of the five stairwells, and other minor issues. Because the work was accepted, there exists, according to Splaine, no recourse against the general contractor or the architects, who also got a signoff. It would appear, that up to $200,000 in repairs could be necessary to correct these problems. One school source called the matter "deplorable and a waste of tax dollars."
Building Committee Chair Jack Hurley told the Observer that his committee never resigned, still assumes control over the project and is the only recognized entity to sign off bills for payment. "No bills have been paid during this controversy" said Hurley. He said his reputation is at stake and the issues are being blown way out of proportion. He called his committee’s alleged firing illegal. Hurley said that clerk of the works Frank Catani did not quit. "Because his work was basically complete, there was no need to expend money needlessly. Frank could be called in if necessary."

In the meantime, the matter has been turned over to Town Counsel to see if the school committee had the authority to reconfigure the makeup of the building committee. Until that opinion is rendered, and action taken, no bills get signed and the fate of$1.5 million lies in the balance.

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