Boiler Contract Up For Approval

A special meeting of the Johnston Town Council and School Committee is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m., where the new contract for replacement of the boiler at is expected to be approved.

During a phone interview on Wednesday, Mayor Joseph M. Polisena said he plans to recommend a contractor for the project, which also includes removal of asbestos and complete replacement of the heating and hot water system for the high school.

"We've made a lot of progress," Polisena explained.

The meeting will focus on the results of a second round of bids gathered for the project, since the first set of proposals "were out of control," Polisena said. "One of the original bids was $774,000."

Polisena explained that town and school officials decided to separate the asbestos removal and demolition costs from the boiler replacement and re-issue a new Request for Proposals that split the job into its two main parts.

"When the asbestos and demolition was in there, the bids were significantly higher," the mayor said.

The town is using federal American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) funds and bond money, totalling about $700,000, to pay for replacement of the current system, which has been the high school's only boiler since it was built in 1963.

"We're going to be spending close to [$700,000] — we' re going to be on budget, and we're going to get a nice, new, effective system, and a system that's going to last for years," Polisena said. "We're not buying a junk system that's going to last 10 years and all of a sudden we've got to start putting Band-Aids on amputations, as I call it."

Following the planned vote on Friday night — the public session is set to be held at the municipal court at 1395 Atwood Ave. — Polisena estimated the work should take about eight to 10 weeks to complete.

"We want to make sure the place is safe, and obviously warm, and [that] it's an environmnent for kids to learn in," Polisena said.