Before Southington's Middle School Building Committee can move forward with planning for the remediation of environmental hazards and the renovation of the DePaolo and Kennedy middle schools, members need to result of an in-depth study designed to determine the exact amount of PCB contamination.
Those results will be ready by the time the committee meets next week, Chairman Edward Pocock Jr. said, but for now, there is nothing the committee can do but wait.
The committee's meeting was cancelled Tuesday, marking the second week in a row that project discussions were put on hold. The primary reason? What was initially viewed as , officials said.
"We need these results to move forward, it's as simple as that," Pocock said this week.
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Christopher Palmieri, a Southington Town Councilor and member of the building committee, told the Record-Journal this week that Fletcher Thompson, the engineering firm hired for the $85 million middle school renovation project, is already looking at ways to reduce costs without compromising the quality of the project:
"When we hear back from Fletcher Thompson, that will give us clear options of how to proceed and we're trying to make intelligent decisions," he said.
The PCBs, which are contained dormant within the buildings after air quality test found no levels in the air or safety hazards at the school, are just part of the problem.
Last week, soil remediation was conducted at DePaolo Middle School after a fuel oil spill from 1980 was not properly addressed. The committee will need to wait for further tests to determine if additional remediation is needed.
“We have a lot to figure out and until we have solid numbers and a clear picture of what needs to be done, it’s difficult to move forward,” Pocock said. “It’s crunch time. We are coming down to the wire.”
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