CARIBOU, Maine — According to city manager Austin Bleess there are several repairs that need to be done at the Caribou fire station.
“The most important repair that should be done before winter sets in is replacing the old boiler,” Bleess suggested. “This old boiler was supposed to be removed by Trane when they put in the pellet boiler, however they took out the newer and better boiler and replaced that one with the pellet boiler.”
The estimate the city has received is as follows: Install Buderus G515-11 cast iron boiler with dual fuel burner (Oil/Propane), which is 1,500,000 BTU single boiler at a cost of $51,765. The project includes gas piping to the outside boiler room wall only, installation of a 16” stainless steel liner in the existing chimney, replacing existing valves in boiler room, misc. piping, valves, and controls as needed, replace unit heater zone control valve in the truck bay.
“This is by far the most pressing need. While the pellet boiler has worked better since the auger system was installed the backup boiler is in very bad shape. When the large bay doors are opened for trucks to enter/exit we need the second boiler to bring the temperature in the bays back up,” Bleess said.
The second repair project considered was replacing the bay doors and the main entrance doors. “These doors are in bad shape and have a tough time opening given their current state,” Bleess told the council.
This would replace the current doors for the Main entrance with hollow metal frames and doors and new hardware. It would all be the same as the existing doors except there would be half lite on the doors and two insulated metal panels at the window unites. The cost for this from JP Martin and Sons is $12,260 and from Portland Glass is $10,474.
For the garage bay doors they would replace with hollow metal frames and doors and new hardware. It would all be the same as existing. The cost from JP Martin and Sons is $9,642 and from Portland glass is $8,218.
“For both of these projects we can utilize money from the Fire Equipment Reserve which has $333,476 in it or we can utilize TIF Funds as well. We have set aside $1,000,000 in TIF Funds for Fire Station Improvements,” Bleess said.
The other need the fire department has is to replace the current driveway/parking area. The estimate from Trombley Industries is to remove the entire existing hot top on the front of the building facing High Street.
“This cost would be $33,500. While the parking lot is in very rough shape, it’s not the most pressing issue and could be addressed next year,” Bleess said.
Councilman Philip McDonough suggested the issue with the parking lot be dealt with next year. The fire department repairs were passed unanimously.
In other business, council members approved the demolition of tax-acquired property at 23 River Road, kept by the City to demolish as slum and blight.
“In accordance with DEP regulations we had a site survey done for asbestos. However, given the state of the building an asbestos demolition impact survey could not be completed,” Bleess told the council. “As such the demolition must be done in accordance with Maine DEP rules as such. Even though this is a residential home when it is tax acquired by the city DEP classifies it as a ‘commercial property’ and the requirements for demolition are much more stringent than if it were considered a residential property.”
The project went out for bids based upon the Scope of Work done by CES Engineering. “We received one bid of $23,850 from Soderberg Construction.
They did note on the bid that if there is an friable ACM that a change order would need to be ordered for sampling, analyzing, abatement, packaging, and disposal as per Maine DEP rules,” Bleess said. “If the building was in better shape we would know for sure whether or not there was any friable materials.”
This bid does not include tipping fees, which would may cost $2,000 – $5,000 and would be billed to the city directly from Tri-Community Landfill.
The costs of this project would be paid from the Tax Acquired Property Remediation Reserve (G1-373-07) which has $67,640 in the account. “Once this project is completed there is interest in some abutting landowners in possibly purchasing the land,” Bleess said.
City Council members unanimously appointed Nelson Ketch to the Nylander Museum Board at their Monday night meeting.
Nelson Ketch applied to be on the Nylander Museum Board. He is a great grandson of Mr. Nylander and has served on the Friends of the Nylander Committee in the past. Ketch will serve a term through 2017.
Council member Jody Smith introduced an ordinance regarding the sale of municipal parcels more commonly known as the Albair Parking Lot.
“If the Council is interested in selling other lots in the Downtown area whoever introduces the ordinance could add the following lots to it Lot 31 commonly known as the Legion Lot, Lot 39 commonly known as the North Mall Parking Lot, and Lot 60 commonly known as the South Mall Parking Lot,” Bleess said.
“There are a few other municipally owned parcels that staff is compiling a list of that could be sold as well. That list is not ready for this evening.”
The additional downtown parking lots were included in Smith’s introduction.
The Caribou City Council will hold their next regular meeting on August 10 at 6 p.m. in their council chambers.
