Monomoy Middle School Project Workmanship Questioned

CHATHAM – The replacement of windows, siding and trim at the Monomoy Regional Middle School is nearly complete, but questions are being raised about the quality of the work and whether there has been proper oversight of the $10 million project.

 Local builder Bob Stello resigned from the building committee overseeing the project after observing what he said was improper installation of windows and trim at the Crowell Road school. He watched the process over a period of several months and said he was “appalled” by what he saw.

 “I don’t want to be part of this,” he said at the Oct. 27 select board meeting, describing why he stepped down from the committee. “It really is an affront to building, it really is.”

 Monomoy Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Strategic Alignment Michael MacMillan said there have been multiple meetings about the situation and the manufacturer has been onsite to ensure that the windows were installed correctly. The owner’s project manager has also contacted general contractor Pearl Construction to make sure that the final review of the work addresses any outstanding concerns.

 “We want the same thing that I think everybody wants,” MacMillan said. “We want the project done well. I desperately want a water-tight building. I can’t tell you how much we want to resolve the air quality issues that we’ve had at the middle school.”

 Failing trim and windows led to the growth of mold and air quality problems in the school over the past several years. Sections of the building, including classrooms and the library, had to be closed off because of water infiltration, which in turn led to the mold and air quality issues. Replacement of the trim, windows and siding began last spring and was originally budgeted at $9.3 million. Changes have since increased the costs to $9,960,000, MacMillan said. Voters in Chatham and Harwich authorized borrowing of up to $11.5 million for the work.

 The school’s roof is slated to be replaced once the window and siding project is completed. Voters have approved borrowing $11.8 million for that work, some of which will be offset by a grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

 Stello displayed photographs showing windows bulging out from walls and surrounded by gobs of caulk and tape. He said there were gaps that would allow water to get inside. Many of the problems could be easily corrected, but despite his warnings he said he saw no evidence the problems were addressed.

 He said he feared the workmanship was substandard and that the school would continue to have mold and air quality problems.

 “We should be able to do a better job overseeing a project than this,” Stello said. Otherwise he said he feared “we’re not going to get what we wanted from this project.”

 “We did listen,” MacMillan said. Many of the windows were reinstalled and pressure tested to ensure that they were water tight. The final “punch list” of items that need to be addressed before the project is completed includes some of this work; some money will be held back and officials won’t sign off on the project until the work is completed to their satisfaction, he said.

 Although the project is under the jurisdiction of the Monomoy School Committee, select board member Stuart Smith has pushed for a town committee to oversee large construction projects such as the middle school work. He called the problems highlighted by Stello “a little bit horrifying” and said a committee “at the very minimum would help us understand these things.”

 “I’d have serious, serious conversations with your building group and the school committee as to whether that craftsmanship is something that’s acceptable, because it clearly is not, and it’s going to make it very difficult in the future to get money for these buildings,” Smith told MacMillan and Superintendent Robin Millen at the Oct. 27 session.

 Chair Jeffrey Dykens said he toured the building with Stello and later walked the site with the CEO of the construction company. “I was assured the windows would be installed correctly,” he said.

 Dykens and board member Dean Nicastro recommended that the situation be brought to the school committee as soon as possible.

 MacMillan said he anticipates the final work to be completed in the next few weeks, although some punch list items may take longer. All classroom spaces are now in use; the main gym remains the only interior area of the school that remains closed off due to “extensive” reconstruction required to remediate mold in a wall, he said.