CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Selectmen will place an article on the warrant that will pull funds from stabilization to repair a downed portion of the Cheshire School's heating system.

 

Town Administrator Edmund St. John IV said last week that he would like to tap the stabilization account for $60,000 to fix a faulty portion of the former school's heating system that services the cafeteria area of the building.

 

"We made it through last season without heat to that particular section but every season that passes I grow increasingly worried about long-term damage to that building," St. John said on Tuesday. "I don't want to throw money into this building but at some point, it becomes a health and safety issue because we have people in there ... this is the year we have to do something about it."

 

The heating system in the old section of the building has been completely drained and shut down and the town only chose to keep the newer section operational. The school was closed a couple years ago but some parts of it are still being used for the regional school district's Central Office and other tenants. 

 

Chairman Robert Ciskowski added that the other two heating systems in the new section of the building are just as old and may also soon fail.

 

"The other two-thirds of the building the same pipes could rot away they are all the same age," he said. "I am not saying they are all in the same condition ... but the whole system may need to be replaced at some point."

 

St. John said the town did look at a total replacement but this would easily cost six figures. 

 

He did say the town’'s pending Green Communities designation could provide grant funds toward this more substantial upgrade. He said the currently there is near $445,000 in stabilization and another another $20,000 will be added to the fund in the fiscal 2020 budget.

 

He said the heating issue kept the town from holding a town meeting in the cafeteria but was not an issue for the exercise group that has been meeting in the space starting this spring. 

 

St. John went on to say he hopes to create a "mini master plan" for the building to deal with proposed uses. He hopes to be able to move some of the Town hall Functions to the building alongside the Adam-Cheshire Regional School District's Central Office and the most recent lease to the Youth Center.

 

He said moving Town Hall operations to the former school would mean a fire suppression system would have to be installed. He said he reached out to EDM Architects for an estimate. 

 

The conversation then moved to the use of the building and Sandra Sloane of the Building Reuse Committee felt her group's work has been totally ignored.  

 

"We presented the sSelectmen with a proposal that you obviously totally rejected," she said. "I am not really sure why or what our purpose is or what we should be doing."

 

The group was appointed two years ago to come up with a recommendation for the Selectmen to consider. They came forth last summer with their proposal to move all town offices and the library to the building.

 

St. John, who was a selectman at the time the proposal was presented, said the town is still sticking with the spirit of the plan but has changed it as opportunities arose.

 

"It is not a wholesale rejection of what was said," he said. "It is because of changing circumstances with someone showing interest in the wing of the building ... it is very fluid and these are just proposals. Nothing is set in stone."

 

The "someone" is Youth Center Inc. that executed a lease with the town in April.

 

Sloane said this was never put before the committee and in her opinion did not fit within their proposal. She added that she thought the lease agreement was rushed.

 

"The lease was jumped into I think ... when you are renting you find how much it is per square foot," she said.

 

Ciskowski said the town was looking less at financial gain but just felt the Youth Center was a good fit for the school and for the town. 

 

"We understand the important work they do and we thought it was a good fit to bring them in ... we are not in the real estate business," he said. "This agency is not swimming in money and they do a lot for the youth in town ... we are trying to be a real estate business with heart."

 

Sloane said she thought now that the Youth Center is using six-plus classrooms in the school there would be no room for Town Hall. She added that she did not think a sprinkler system would have to be installed because this regulation would only be triggered if more than 100 people were in the building at a time.

 

St John said there would still be room in the school for town offices but not the library and noted the assembly number is more than 49, not 100. He said a sprinkler system would have to be installed with the change of use. If not if there were over 49 people in the building there would have to be a fire watch.

 

He added that the partnership with the Youth Center also opens the town up for grants.

 

Planning Board member Peter Traub asked if there was a proposed timeline for this transition and St. John said he hoped this "mini master plan" would serve as this document. 

 

Ciskowski noted that this entire process is new to the town and apologized for any oversights.

 

"This is a learning experience we haven't had anything like this happen to Cheshire that I remember," he said. "We are going to stumble a bit but what we have now is direction ... nothing is forever and we don't mind public input."

 

Sloane asked if there was even a reason to reappoint the committee but St. John said their input will continue to be an asset to the town.

 

"You put in a lot of hard work and I know that I am grateful for it," he said. "You drew the map for us to follow. Whether it happens today, tomorrow, or five years from now it is something we can work toward."