Committee approves $10,400 to replace sagging ceiling tiles at Council on Aging

The Capital Improvement Planning Committee voted Jan. 22 to approve $10,400 to replace damaged ceiling tiles at the Council on Aging facility after hearing from the department’s director and staff about safety concerns.

Holly Begley, director of the Council on Aging, told the committee the tiles are original to the 1991 building, “They're very, very tired. They're sagging. We have a safety concern about them falling and possibly hitting someone who is in the building.” Begley said the department requested $10,000 to replace tiles in the front offices, a long hallway and the hallway into the function room; she presented an estimate from a vendor that calculated $8,730 at $2.50 per square foot with a 20% contingency that brought the quote to about $10,476.

Committee members asked about product quality and procurement. One member asked whether the town’s facilities manager had reviewed the tile specification; Begley said the facilities manager had advised on quality during recent work and could review specifications when formal bids are solicited. Members discussed procurement thresholds and whether contingency would push the project above the town’s informal quote thresholds; Begley said the contingency might not be spent and the town could drop a small area (staff kitchen) to stay under limits if needed.

A motion to approve the Council on Aging ceiling replacement was made and seconded; the committee took no roll-call tally but the chair announced the motion passed unanimously.

The committee recorded that several public-facing areas of the building would be completed by this work and that some back-of-house areas (kitchen, custodial storage) remain to be addressed in the future.