Select Board orders gas line capped, narrows use of Bow Town community building as compliance plan proceeds

Bow Town Select Board members at a June 10 working session approved steps to limit and manage public use of the town’s community building while the town pursues longer-term renovation or replacement.

The board voted to have the building’s gas service capped by Aug. 1 to remove the commercial stove from service and avoid large kitchen upgrades. The vote passed unanimously, the chair said, with a 5–0 tally.

Town staff and the fire chief reviewed a 2018 compliance plan from the fire marshal that lists phased life‑safety upgrades the town can use to keep the facility usable while a permanent solution is pursued. Staff said some items in that checklist are now moot because the fire department no longer occupies the space; others remain because of current uses.

Why it matters: the building houses public assembly space, recreational offices and a kitchen that is used infrequently. Meeting participants described the kitchen as the principal driver of near‑term cost and compliance requirements; keeping it available for cooking would require significant capital investments, while removing or decommissioning the stove reduces immediate code obligations.

Key details and staff direction

- Kitchen and stove: The building’s hood and suppression system were described as substandard for a recurring cooking operation. Staff and the Building and Facilities Advisory Committee recommended discontinuing kitchen use for food preparation; the board directed staff to cap the gas line to the stove by Aug. 1 so the space can remain a noncooking staging area instead of a commercial kitchen. No expansion of cooking use will be allowed while the stove is out of service.

- Occupancy and fire separation: The town has limited the building’s assembly occupancy to 300 persons to take advantage of existing suppression and alarm levels. With occupancy left at 300, staff said certain alarm/suppression upgrades (item 21 on the 2018 list) would not be required. Other items—principally a one‑hour fire separation between the former fire station area and the recreation offices/assembly space—remain relevant if certain storage or occupancy patterns continue.

- ADA access and doors: Staff reported the exterior doors do not meet current ADA opening/closing force standards. A rough estimate for installing automatic door openers on two doors (based on a recent library project) is about $7,000, excluding separate electrical work. The board asked staff to get updated quotes for door openers so the board can weigh accessibility improvements against the town’s plan to reduce use of the building.

- Heating system: The building’s boiler has been repaired several times; staff reported a likely circulator pump replacement would be on the order of $2,000, while a full new, high‑efficiency boiler and separation of the old fire station heating loop into a dedicated system has been estimated previously at roughly $53,000.

- Costs and prior spending: Board members said the town previously spent roughly $35,000 on temporary fixes to meet the 2018 compliance checklist. Staff cautioned that the 2018 dollar estimates do not reflect inflation, and attendees said some line‑item estimates likely have increased significantly.

Actions taken and next steps

- Formal action: The Select Board approved a motion to cap the community building kitchen gas line by Aug. 1 to render the stove unusable for food preparation. The motion passed, 5–0.

- Staff direction: The board asked facilities staff to obtain updated contractor quotes for the outstanding code items (including the fire separation identified as item 31 on the compliance list) and return with cost estimates and a recommendation; board members suggested adding the highest‑priority items to the coming CIP cycle.

- Programming and access: Board members and staff said the kitchen area may continue to be used as a staging or serving area (for chafing dishes, warming equipment or staging food brought in) so long as no cooking on the stove occurs. If the stove is removed or the gas capped, that change would be implemented immediately after the Aug. 1 deadline.

Board members and staff emphasized they are discussing a wind‑down strategy to limit capital spending on an aging building while planning for a permanent solution. The Building and Facilities Advisory Committee’s recommendation to discontinue the kitchen and the board’s direction to secure quotes are intended to limit near‑term spending while preserving essential assembly use and accessibility where feasible.

The board requested a contractor quote for the remaining required fire separation work and updated pricing for door openers and boiler work; staff said they will return with figures and a proposed inclusion on the CIP list.