2010-08-23-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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August 23, 2010 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee August 23, 2010 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room G-15,730 p.m. Members present: Glenn Parker (Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair and Secretary), Joe Pato (Vice Chair), Mollie Garberg, Alan Levine, Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson Also present: Carl Valente, Town Manager; Paul Ash, Superintendent of Schools; Pat Goddard, Director of Facilities; Hank Manz and George Burnell, Board of Selectmen; Mary Ann Stewart and Rod Cole, School Committee; Jim Courtemanche, Town Meeting Member, Precinct 7; Scott Kanofsky The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. 1. Reserve Fund Transfer for Estabrook Caulk Remediation. This meeting was convened on an emergency basis at the request of the Town Manager and Pat Goddard, Director of Facilities. The purpose was to consider a proposed draw on the Reserve Fund in the amount of $150,000 to perform immediate remediation work at the Estabrook School of caulking containing PCBs. Mr. Goddard advised that the remediation work would have to commence the next day if it was to be completed in time for the school to reopen early next week, as scheduled. Mr. Goddard made a detailed presentation to the Committee on the history of the matter, including: the issuance by the United States Environmental Protection Agency of an alert in September 2009 specifying steps "that building owners and school administrators should take to reduce exposure to PCBs that may be found in caulk in many buildings constructed or renovated between 1950 and 1978 "; actions taken by the Facilities Department, working in conjunction with the Board of Health, to test all potentially affected municipal and school buildings in the Town of Lexington; the discovery of caulk samples with PCB levels exceeding EPA thresholds in three facilities, the Town Office Building, the Clarke Middle School, and the Estabrook School; and steps taken, with building envelope funds appropriated in the FY2010 budget, to address the conditions at those facilities. Preliminary air sampling showed air quality levels at all three facilities under OSHA levels for adult workers. However, to determine whether the PCB concentrations in the air met the EPA - recommended levels for school facilities occupied by young children, which are lower than those for adults, the Town engaged an environmental consulting firm, Environmental Health and Engineering (EH &E), to conduct additional air sampling tests. In early August, EH &E reported that several air samples taken at the Estabrook School exceeded the EPA - recommended level for school buildings (100 nanograms per cubic meter for kindergartners, 300 nanograms per cubic meter for older elementary school children). This, in turn, led to the development of an immediate plan to remove and replace and /or contain the affected caulking at Estabrook before the commencement of classes this year. -1-