Government

‘It’s Like Someone Screaming ‘Fire’ in the Movie Theater When There Is No Fire’: Teen Center Found To Be Safe After Review by Its Builders

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Town officials said Tuesday that a new inspection of the former Outback Teen Center—shuttered for two months after an engineering firm had found it structurally unsound—shows that the building only needs relatively minor cosmetic work to make it usable. What that use may be remains a major, open question, after a nonprofit organization that had operated out of the 2001-built teen center failed to self-sustain and—following an aborted effort by a second group—handed it over to the town July 1. Yet the dramatic July 19 report from a Danbury-based firm—a report that Selectman Beth Jones said cost her sleep after reading it, as the study painted a picture a building that presented a danger to the New Canaan teens and others it was designed to serve—now appears to have drawn wrong conclusions. “It’s like someone screaming ‘fire’ in the movie theater when there is no fire,” Jones said at a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall. “The engineering firm that first gave us that [report] should have said, ‘We are not qualified to do this, this is not the kind of building we do,’ or we should hold them responsible for a completely false report,” Jones said.

Government

‘These Good Folks Still Feel Invested’: Town Council Subcommittee Hits Pause on Thoughts of Razing Outback, Seeks Info On Restoration, Alternative Uses

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Saying the careful, considerate handling of the privately funded and operated building that opened 15 years ago as the Outback Teen Center is important to New Canaan’s future, members of the town’s legislative body are calling for more information on what’s needed to restore the recently shuttered structure. Though fire officials declared the Outback unsound and unsafe on the strength of a third-party engineering study commissioned after the town inherited it, members of a Town Council subgroup feel it’s worth exploring whether there’s a viable path to alternative uses for the building, according to councilman Sven Englund. The Subcommittee on Land Use and Infrastructure at a meeting this month spent time hearing from some of those who had founded and supported the former teen center and “there is no desire to demolish the Outback building without assessing all the options,” said Englund, who co-chairs the subcommittee with Cristina Aguirre Ross. “These good folks still feel invested in the original mission of the Outback in serving the youth population of New Canaan. We hope to honor those sentiments going forward.”

He added: “Relationships between the Town and existing and future public-private partnerships depend on the respectful consideration we will give this matter.”

At the Aug.

Government

Officials: Building Inspection Document Missing from Outback Teen Center Files

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Town officials said Friday that they’ve been unable to locate a document in the Outback Teen Center’s files that’s required by the Building Code as a final and comprehensive sign-off prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. An important layer in checks-and-balances in the approval process for non-residential structures, the “Statement of Special Inspections” (see PDF embedded below to view the form) is a standardized and highly detailed document that encompasses structural and architectural disciplines, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing, officials said. New Canaan’s building official at the time—new and different people for years have occupied that and other pertinent roles at Town Hall—would have been responsible for ensuring that the Statement of Special Inspections was filled out and signed by all parties involved in the Outback project, officials said. To this point, it isn’t clear whether it ever was, according to Bill Oestmann, who “inherited” the structure behind Town Hall on July 1 as New Canaan’s superintendent of buildings. Asked about the Statement of Special Inspections for the Outback, Oestmann said: “I don’t know if they were ever done.”

“We will continue to find what we can find paperwork-wise,” Oestmann told NewCanaanite.com.

Government

Town Commissions Study To Determine Levels of Pollutants in Waveny House

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Officials on Tuesday approved about $6,000 for tests that will help make clear the extent of pollutants such as asbestos and lead in Waveny House. Most of the pollutants at Waveny are relegated to the basement because of its heating system and pipes, where “huge water tanks” are wrapped in asbestos, according to Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. The town as it looks at restoring the infrastructure at Waveny House should consider alternative heating sources to the steam pipes used now so that there’s no need to trigger abatement work by entering an area with contaminants, Oestmann told the Board of Selectmen during the group’s regular meeting. “As far as dollars go, this study will hopefully get us some estimates,” Oestmann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. The study, from Meriden-based EnviroMed Services, will cost about $5,520 and the selectman approved a contract for it 3-0 with $800 contingency.

Government

Town Approves $120,500 Contract for Waveny House Roof Repair

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New Canaan is entering a $120,500 contract with a White Plains, N.Y.-based architectural firm as it pursues a much-needed repair of the roof at Waveny House. The 14,000-square-foot roof has been leaking, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings and fleet with the town’s Department of Public Works. “Replacing the concrete that the roof is made of would be very difficult and expensive,” Oestmann told the Board of Selectmen at their regular monthly meeting on May 17. “We’re actually going to be using lumber to repair failed sections of the roof.”

The town is retaining the services of KSQ Architects—the same firm that worked on the Town Hall renovation and expansion—for the job. The $120,500 figure covers plans, specifications, administrative fees and $10,500 in contingency.