Consultant To Study Fixing ‘Major Deficiencies’ At CFAL

CHATHAM – Voters have repeatedly rejected proposals to build a new center for active living, but the problems identified at the current senior center on Stony Hill Road haven’t gone away.

The select board last week authorized the town manager to hire a consultant to study the possible remediation of “major deficiencies” at the facility and to provide a cost estimate for doing so.

Commissioning the study was an idea advanced by select board member Dean Nicastro, who suggested discontinuing a search for a new facility after the last rejection by voters.

“It is time to seriously address the major deficiencies of the current building, and only the major deficiencies,” he said at last week’s board meeting. The goal is to provide a baseline assessment of the current shortcomings and a cost estimate for fixing them, to help the town decide how to proceed. In 2011, when the town was considering adding an adult day center to the Stony Hill Road building, it studied the condition of the rest of the building and estimated the cost of fixing only critical problems. That cost, in 2011 dollars, was just over $1 million. Nicastro said the number will likely be higher today.

“I hasten to add that we are likely to experience sticker shock when we get the numbers to improve matters at a building which is assessed at only $1.1 million, and we’ll have to make some decisions as to whether funding of that magnitude should be applied to remediate that building.”

Proponents of a new senior center argued that the current building is ill-suited for its purpose, is too small and lacks adequate access for people with mobility problems. Nicastro said even without the study, he’s aware of a number of key deficiencies, like the need to replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; improve handicap access; fix a problem with the building’s foundation; remove columns that obstruct basement program rooms; improve the third floor meeting room; and update the fire sprinkler and water systems.

On the advice of Town Manager Jill Goldsmith, Nicastro proposed putting funding for the study in the next town budget. The money would then be available after July 1.

Other members of the board generally supported the idea of a limited study, though thought it should be done sooner.

Asking for the funds in the fiscal 2025 budget “contemplates that we start this sometime next summer,” Mike Schell said. “I would like to figure out a way that we can start this promptly.” He said he’s hopeful that the study can be done for less than the $50,000 first envisioned, and without the need for multiple engineers to bid on the job. “This may be dream land, but I’m talking about spending $20,000 or $25,000,” he said. Goldsmith said she would review the current budget with the new finance director to see if those funds could be made available immediately.

If the job does not need the town to issue a request for proposals, “I would advocate engaging a consultant that has no connection with the recent council on aging project proposals for Middle Road, 1610 Main St. or Stepping Stones Road, so that we can have a fresh, independent look at this,” Nicastro said. He stressed that the study would only examine the cost of fixing the most pressing problems.

“I’m not looking to make this building perfect,” he said. “We’ve got a program that we’re running for seniors in a building that is defective for it. I want to do the minimum that needs to be done to make it more serviceable.” Nicastro said he would specifically ask the consultant to ignore the shortage of parking at the site, which he said cannot easily be remedied.

Board member Jeffrey Dykens said he has mixed feelings about commissioning a study, saying the major problems are numerous.

“It’s a mess. And we’re going to end up spending millions,” he said. “There’s a lot needed there, and I’m afraid what we’re going to get as a result is really not going to meet their programmatic needs. So then, as a select board member, am I spending good money after bad? Perhaps,” he said.

“I truly don’t believe that this building will ever suit the needs of a senior center,” board member Shareen Davis said. But she said she also supports fast-tracking a small study, since it is “atrocious” that seniors are being asked to continue using a facility that doesn’t meet their needs.

The study will yield few surprises, board Chair Cory Metters predicted. But it will nonetheless be useful to assess either the building’s current function as a senior center or to prepare it for some other future use, he said.

Opponents of a new senior center have told proponents to make due with the current facility, Schell said. “I think we ought to see what it is we have and whether we can make due with it responsibly, in terms of the safety and adequacy of the facilities for the programs,” he said.

The board approved Nicastro’s motion to ask the town manager to commission a study to evaluate the possible remediation of “major deficiencies” at 193 Stony Hill Rd., so as to help make it more serviceable for the needs of Chatham seniors, and to provide rough cost estimates for that work. Goldsmith said she would provide an update in a week or two.