BRUNSWICK

The Town Council voted not to send a $12.5 million renovation package for Brunswick Junior High and Coffin Elementary schools to a public hearing Monday night.

Council Chair Sarah Brayman said there was only one time before that she voted against a public hearing, suggesting the council and board collaborate to meet immediate needs for the two buildings.

“I just don’t see this plan as stated doing anything for the town of Brunswick,” said Councilor Dave Watson, who noted he had never voted against sending a matter to the public before.

The plan would have added an estimated 10 to 15 years of usable life to the two schools. Watson questioned what two new schools would cost in that time, saying “I find it horrifying.”

For two years, the Brunswick School Board has been working with PDT Architects and with public input to find strategies to either repair or replace the aging schools. School Board member Rich Ellis said there have been 25 meetings open to the public and the council over the past two years.

Council members expressed that they have only been involved in the discussion for a couple of meetings — something of which Ellis said he is both aware and leery. He added that he does not believe this is a matter where a broad consensus can be found.

The $12.5 million would most likely have to come from a 10-year bond — similar over time, to the construction costs of one new school according to Brayman. However, that leaves one school still in disrepair.

Ellis said the board had discussed the construction of a new school for about $28 million while not investing in repairs at one of the existing buildings.

“To take that tact and approach the $28 million and to not do the repair work on the left-out child was unpalatable,” he said. “If you combine the two, it’s going to be an even larger number. If we went to a $28 million bond for a new school and $4 million to $5 million dollars to repair and maintain the other school — again on a 10-year bond package — that’s going to cost more money on top of that.”

Estimated increases on the local tax burden spanned from 4.25 to 4.5 percent in the first year.

“That is going to have immediate and direct pressure and, or impact on our operating budget,” Ellis said. “To raise that number to a 6 or 7 percent number in the first year will have even more dramatic impact on our budget.”

“How much is the public going to be willing to support that won’t impact the operational budget, that will put us in a position where our buildings are structurally sound and out of the red zone?” Ellis said.

Questions began revolving around maintenance and why issues with the roof at the junior high and other problems weren’t repaired in a timely manner. Facilities Director Paul Caron said much of it comes down to lack of room in the budget for a maintenance crew.

“I just want to come down to basic common sense,” Councilor John Perrault said. “Things may happen one year, but why do they continue to happen year after year after year?”

Caron said he currently has only three custodians for Coffin School including one to clean up messes and tend to urgent matters during the day and two to clean the entire school at night. Those custodians are also not qualified to complete structural repair tasks even if they had the time.

Caron outlined a series of age-related failures in the buildings over the years, including a burst water pipe in winter of 2013-2014 which caused severe flooding to the junior high, a failed fuse that caused a pump to stop, freezing the water and causing more pipe ruptures the following winter and a broken steam pipe that destroyed much of the music room.

Caron said many of the same problems are found at Coffin Elementary and many are indicative of the construction techniques of the 1950s and 1960s, such as no gaps between bricks and wood, allowing for rot and roofs that flow off directly onto masonry, eroding mortar and adding to moisture issues within the brick.

A failing floor in the junior high, asbestos, PCBs and failed insulation in numerous windows were also listed among the hazards in the schools.

Caron said other features such as antiquated public address and telephone systems have plagued the schools as well as an open lobby in the junior high and lack of fire doors in the stairwells, causing fire and safety issues at the school.

Caron referred to the stairwells in the junior high as a “chimney” that would direct smoke and flame right to the second floor, as it did when three juveniles attempted to burn the school down in 1983. Flames quickly spread up the stairwell and caught in the library.

Councilor John Richardson said the town was on a pathway of having to reconstruct two schools at the same time with little or no help from Augusta.

“We have great teachers, we have great students — we need great infrastructure,” Richardson said.

Vice Chairman Steve Walker also said he wanted to see a combined maintenance crew shared between the schools and the town to take care of issues in the future.

“Let’s do something this town can be proud of,” Walker said.

Councilor Kathy Wilson said that although she’s usually frugal when it comes to town spending, she wants to see a bigger project — one that would keep her grandkids safe. She said that the town can do better than the proposed $12.5 million plan adding, “This does not make sense.”

dmcintire@timesrecord.com