The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved an approximately $14,000 contract with a North Berwick, Maine-based company to make repairs to bleachers at athletic fields throughout town.
The bleachers in need of repair are located at Mead Park, Waveny, Dunning Stadium, Conner Field, Saxe Middle School and the turf fields at New Canaan High School, according to Ryan Restivo, superintendent of parks.
“Hussey Seating recently inspected all of our bleachers, and upon approval, will complete all identified repairs,” he told the selectmen at their Nov. 3 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The scope of work includes materials and labor.”
First Selectmen Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $13,945 contract with Hussey Seating Company. Funds for the work are in the Parks Capital Beacher Repairs accounts, Restivo said.
The selectmen asked whether the bleacher repair work is different from a fencing project (yes), whether that job was related to a railing (yes, at Dunning on the home bleachers side, there’s a chain link fence and railing that are constantly getting leaned into), whether the company’s review is included in the cost (no that was separate), how much that review was (about $15,000) and when the work will get done (over the winter).
Murphy Carroll noted that a number of years ago it wasn’t clear where funding for repair work at Dunning would come from, saying, “I think this is great.”
She asked how often the inspections are happening.
Noting that some of the bleachers are nearly 30 years old, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said, “One thing we found out in the last few years is we should be having our bleachers inspected every year. And it wasn’t done for a number of years. So we had a lot of work in the beginning.”
Howe said he anticipates an annual inspection and repair cost of $10,000 to $15,000.