Facilities director outlines 5,000-plus work orders, staffing gaps and capital priorities

Walter Moran, director of facilities for Cornwall Central School District, told the Board of Education on Sept. 24 that his department handled more than 5,000 recorded work orders last school year, manages the district’s heating, cooling and safety systems and is operating short-staffed with six open positions. “On average, we’ve completed just about 14 a day. Average time open is 33 days,” Moran said, adding his operational goal is a seven-day turnaround for routine work orders. Moran reviewed building sizes and assets — the high school at roughly 200,000 square feet on about 51 acres, more than a hundred toilets, dozens of boilers and air handlers, and a computerized building-management system that tracks HVAC and room conditions. He described four “buckets” of work for the department: daily operations, project-specific execution, scholastic-sports support and capital-project support. He said the department saved the district more than $100,000 by installing a fire alarm at Cornwall-on-Hudson after a local power outage rather than contracting the work. Moran raised staffing challenges as a central concern: six open positions across custodial and maintenance roles, competition from neighboring districts that offer higher pay, and the need for professional-development time for facilities employees. He recommended continuing preventive maintenance, pursuing the next round of capital projects identified by an upcoming building-condition survey, and budgeting to address aging infrastructure. No board action was taken at the presentation; board members thanked Moran and noted an upcoming facilities-committee meeting to review the building-condition survey and possible spring ballot items for capital work.