Saturday, July 19, 2008 12:57 AM EDT
Hope Valley school getting emergency repairs
 Chariho officials authorize emergency repairs at the Hope Valley Elementary School after metal ties were found to be rusted and failing. |
Chariho officials have authorized emergency repairs at the Hope Valley Elementary School, after metal ties holding brick veneer to the building were reportedly found to be rusted and failing on Monday.
The Chariho Regional School Committee voted 10-0 earlier this week to begin repair work at the Thelma Drive facility. The vote allows Superintendent Barry J. Ricci to enter into a change order agreement with East Coast Masonry and Restoration Inc. of Johnston, which will remove and rebuild structurally deficient brickwork under the direction of Hopkinton’s building inspector.
The ties are failing due to age, according to Chariho’s Director of Building and Grounds Dan Cartier.
“We are in a position where the building inspector [in Hopkinton] has said to us, ‘You may not open Hope Valley school until that brick work is repaired,’” Ricci told the school committee on Tuesday. “I cannot give you an amount, because we don’t know the extent of the work, but we will do it in coordination with the building inspector, who will have to give us direction on how much of the brick work needs to be replaced.”
“It does constitute an emergency because we do not have time to go [out] to bid,” he added.
The school district has already allocated $116,000 for repointing exterior bricks at Hope Valley Elementary – work that is part of $2.94 million worth of capital improvement projects slated to be done by the start of the coming school year.
To fund the emergency fix, Ricci said officials could tap $80,000 allocated for repairs to the Ashaway Elementary School roof that are not planned for this year – or the money could become available due to low bids on other capital projects.
Because money for the work will likely come from Chariho’s capital reserve fund, it will not require an account transfer, he said.
“This will be resolved and we will open the Hope Valley school in the fall,” Ricci said.
The Chariho Regional School Committee voted 10-0 earlier this week to begin repair work at the Thelma Drive facility. The vote allows Superintendent Barry J. Ricci to enter into a change order agreement with East Coast Masonry and Restoration Inc. of Johnston, which will remove and rebuild structurally deficient brickwork under the direction of Hopkinton’s building inspector.
The ties are failing due to age, according to Chariho’s Director of Building and Grounds Dan Cartier.
“We are in a position where the building inspector [in Hopkinton] has said to us, ‘You may not open Hope Valley school until that brick work is repaired,’” Ricci told the school committee on Tuesday. “I cannot give you an amount, because we don’t know the extent of the work, but we will do it in coordination with the building inspector, who will have to give us direction on how much of the brick work needs to be replaced.”
“It does constitute an emergency because we do not have time to go [out] to bid,” he added.
The school district has already allocated $116,000 for repointing exterior bricks at Hope Valley Elementary – work that is part of $2.94 million worth of capital improvement projects slated to be done by the start of the coming school year.
To fund the emergency fix, Ricci said officials could tap $80,000 allocated for repairs to the Ashaway Elementary School roof that are not planned for this year – or the money could become available due to low bids on other capital projects.
Because money for the work will likely come from Chariho’s capital reserve fund, it will not require an account transfer, he said.
“This will be resolved and we will open the Hope Valley school in the fall,” Ricci said.
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