Repairs for moisture and water infiltration problems at Waveny House will start in June, with the hope of finishing “phase one” of the project in October, officials say.
On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen approved a $653,775 contract with New Haven-based G.L. Capasso Inc. to address Waveny’s ongoing leakage issues. The selectmen also approved $14,400 for interior kitchen repairs within the contract.
“This approach will fix 95% of the leaks, and we will be able to reassess and do a deeper dive if further repairs are necessary,” Department of Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contract. The decision follows a previously approved $38,950 contract with Hoffman Architects + Engineers to cover studies of the facade and chimneys at both Waveny House and Lapham Community Center.
The selectmen asked Zagarenski questions about the decreased scope of work, as the original budget for this project was $2.3 million.
“It feels like a question of short-term versus long-term pain. Why not disable the building and get it done the right way?” Karl said.
Carlson voiced hesitation about taking “multiple bites of the apple” and said she would like to have the building “fully finished.”
However, Waveny House is a historic building, and many of the initial strategies would be “too destructive to the building,” Zagarenski said.
The current plan to fix the leaking is a consensus of multiple design teams that will fix all known leaks within Waveny House, according to Zagarenski.
“There will be a second phase, and we’ll further identify what work needs to be done,” he said. “We are considerably under budget right now, and that’s mostly because of the high initial estimates of unit prices.”
Moving forward, the few unknown leaks that still exist “should be focused on” so that the town can “complete [Waveny House] once and for all,” Carlson said.