Planning and Zoning Commission - Special Meeting

Good evening. Today is Tuesday, March 17th, 2026. I'd like to call the special town meeting to order. Troy Lamir, Paul Harrington, Todd Arshawashi, William Hester, William Pos, and joining us up here at the desk are Chris Fleming. Chris Fleming from uh from Garland Garland and floor PM Resources. Item two, reading of the warning notice of the town meeting.

Mr. Mr. Mayor, if I may, before we go into it, uh I I'd like to, as the agenda says, I want to go with 48 Bridge Street first and then we'll get into the Pearson roof project. Uh for those that haven't been to a uh special town meeting, really quick, when uh when the town is selling uh a piece of property, the meeting format will be as follows. Uh the mayor tonight will be our moderator. Um, the property that is in discussion tonight, which is 48 Bridge Street, has been reviewed by all staff. The board of selectman in the planning and zoning commission. The board of selectman has moved the property forward for consideration for a special town meeting tonight. Voters must have signed in at the registars and received a voting card. I think the mayor has done a great job making sure everyone has. There will be discussion followed a a very short presentation. The moderator will recognize the speakers. Motions must be worded correctly and clearly and must be seconded. Voting will be done by paper ballot and at the at the conclusion of speakers of each of the properties. Tonight, there's only one. The town did receive an offer for 48 Bridge Street from Charles and Alyssa Nash, who currently reside at 30 Bridge Street. Right now, this is uh obviously not right right now, but this photo was taken uh when it was warm and sunny out, but it is a uh no structure on the property. It's 0.15 of an acre. The appraisal value in 2025, the lot was worth $35,400. The proposed purchase price is $27,000. Uh again, looking at the appraised value of $35,470% of that appraised value would be 247 $24,780. At a mill rate currently at 29.17, the town would receive an additional $723 a year in tax revenue if the lot stayed just a lot. I believe the uh uh potential uh purchasers of this lot are looking to put a structure on it, potentially a garage and some some storage up there. So, I believe that tax

dollars will be going up when a structure does go on it later on when they decide to build on it. Currently, you can see where the property sits. 48 Bridge Street is currently right there. Are there any questions of the sale of 48 Bridge Street? Make a motion to sell 48 Bridge Street. Second. Thank you. We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion? Mr. Mayor, if I may, if we could just amend the motion for $27,000. For $27,000. Thank you. second.

So, at this time on your uh on your ballot, there's a yes, no. Uh check the box you wish and then when you're done, place it right over in the ballot box. And as soon as all ballots are cast, we will uh count them up. What's happen?

Voting has been closed with 21 yes votes to zero no votes. The sale is approved. Congratulations. We'll move on to the second town meeting. Um if uh everybody wants to stay, they can. They're they're under no obligation uh to stay, but uh feel free uh to do as you wish. So the second item on our special town meeting is the Pearson roof replacement project. Very similar to our last town meeting that we just went through. Um a little bit different because this deals with bonding. Um the resolution as bond council has written there is a copy up on the desk. Um if you wish to read it I'll let the room clear to just for a second. So we're we're we're at a crossroads right now. We could either read the resolution or we could have a motion to wave the resolution. The reading of the resolution. My apologies. I move that the reading of the resolution be presented to the special town meeting under item one of the notice be waved and that the full text of the resolution be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting.

Second. We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor? Anyone opposed? Motion carries.

Thank you. So, moving on into the project. So Pearson roof project the existing problems uh the the existing problems with the roof and and as we've mentioned earlier Chris from Garland Roof is here we uh have looked at this project a board of selectmen uh back in the current budget that we in that we are in put $50,000 into a capital account to start looking at this roof start putting together some numbers we knew that this roof needed to be replaced but let's start looking at it let's start getting cost projects let's start getting a game plan of exactly you what what this is going to entail. Is it a full repair and replace or is it just a simple patch job? Is it a layer job? Well, we brought in the experts and and we found out that it was a 26-y old roof. Roughly 49,130 uh 30 square ft. 36 areas of the subsurface moisture totaling about 10,000 square feet, 21% of the roof was saturated. Not just wet, but saturated. And I'm going to show you a moisture scan in a little bit to show you just exactly how wet this roof really is. Um, if we don't actually start looking at addressing this roof, we're going to end up, you know, leading to structural damage, the M-word, um, energy loss, and a total roof collapse. We get to the point with this roof and that happens, take the number and just put a massive multiplier on it because now you're looking at, you know, replacing structural stuff. you're looking at, you know, moving kids out of schools, temporary classrooms, all of that. Um, other issues included, uh, cracking, granular loss, blistering, patch figures, uh, draining fig, uh, failures, and low flashlight heads. Chris,

what? Patch fatigue. Patch fatigue. Is that the That's the industry term. I'm going to turn it over for Chris for one minute. He's been doing this for so many years, the company, 26 years. You seen a roof like this recently?

Uh, yeah. I mean, they're all over Connecticut and they're all getting replaced. Um, so these are just a couple of pictures of the inside of the school. Uh, it's hard to see, but there's staining on the carpet just from the water that's dripping down from the ceiling tiles. Uh, and this is just one picture on the right of some of the ceiling tiles in the hallway. Uh, this is a juxtaposition of the roof aerial view and the moisture scan. So all the red areas are indicated uh to be saturated with moisture and the white is considered dry. Uh this is an overview of the largest roof section and it shows that there is ponding water on the roof. I think this was taken about two weeks after the last rainstorm. So this is significant. Uh the water should be gone in about 48 hours. And then that large patch area uh on the right is previous uh previous repair. Uh this is another picture of the roof. There's significant mole runs and blistering.

Roofs aren't supposed to look like I had roofs. You see the the the what is it the industry term for that? Mole runs. Mole runs. Um roofs aren't supposed to look like that. No.

What your yard looks like after a snow goes away. Uh, and this shows what one of the roof sections looked like where they couldn't find a leak, so they just uh basically put mastic on everything. Uh, this is an open condition that's found throughout the roof. I think this is next to an air vent or air vent. And this is one of the drains that has been uh built up so much that now that water can't even get into the drain. Also, the strainer is missing. So there's a clogging issue when the fall comes and leaves, you know, fall off the trees. And then there's also masonry issues um throughout the entire So we do an entire uh building envelope assessment. So the worst thing you could do is put on, you know, a $3 million roof and then still have the brick uh leak uh behind the roof. So when water hits the brick, moisture travels down and it hit it hits the um the metal retaining wall there. It's called a through wall and there's on the bottom left that's called a weephole and so that's what allows the water the moisture to come out and so a lot of the times those are clogged. This one is clogged um usually from insects or you know a maintenance guy gets up there and says oh there's a hole in the roof and he clogs it with coaul. Um, so this is something you see uh throughout the building is that there's a lot of spalling, there's a lot of efflloresence, and there's just multiple signs of repairs. Uh, and this is uh the tail of two chimneys. On the left side, you have a chimney that is in great shape. Uh, there are weepholes at the bottom that are open, and on the right side, there are no weepholes. Um, and that's basically what it looks like when moisture retains in brick for too long. through the key findings.

Yeah. And basically the key findings are uh based on the age of the roof, 26 years old, based on the moisture scan, based on the uh visual inspection and the history of leaks, I think there's five or six active leaks currently. Um that would lead us to believe that the roof is at the end of its service life. Yeah. Uh the scope of work is to be determined by an architect at a future date. Um we just did a roof conditions assessment and the roof needs to be replaced.

We do know that one thing that it was going to be a full rip and replace. We don't think by any means that we're going to be able to get through with a patch job and correct from that was from the experts over at Garland that um it was going to definitely be a full rip and replace. The existing roof will be replaced with an SPS modified system, vapor barriers, fire rated coverboard, and new insulation system. So, we're not looking to do this that it only is going to last five or 10 years. We want this roof to last You guys do a 30-year warranty, right? Yeah. So, it's Yeah. 30 years.

So, 30 years. So, hopefully I will never have to discuss a Pearson roof project again in my lifetime. Um I guess I I won't be in the ground but maybe at least resting somewhere. So um and then other work includes structural standing uh uh seam metal roofing and steeper areas replacing any compromised what's that word gisome gypsum

gypsum gypsum um plank decking and new code compliant drainage system um project costs and and fiscal impact. So again, this was an estimate. We have not gone out to bid. By no means the numbers that you're looking at today are are are concrete. This is going to go through the whole vetting process, bid process, everything like that. Anyone's going to be able to bid the project. They are going to have to meet state requirements if they do bid that project. But our experts over at Garland believe that, you know, a 49,130 foot roof should roughly cost about $2.9 million. The state of Connecticut is going to reimburse the town of Winstead 70% of that a little over $2 million. 2,29,069 for the cost, leaving the town's responsibility responsibility of a bond repayment of about $869601. The gentleman named Roger over here, Roger's a gentleman that has a consultant business that comes in, works for different municipalities. I did work with Roger in another municipality I worked with. Roger ensures that all of the paperwork, all the eyes are dotted and tees are crossed and he makes sure that every dollar that the town is supposed to get, it gets from DAS, from the state of Connecticut. He is worth his weight in gold 10 times because when you're looking at a almost $2 million reimbursement where the state's looking for any reason not to potentially pay out the whole amount of money, Roger ensures that the town gets every dollar of the 70% that were supposed to be reimbursed. Roger, did you want to add anything to that?

I don't think I could.

Okay. I will say though that one of the requirements you were talking about before is in order for you to qualify for reimbursement, it does have to be a complete RIP. So it's not even if if you decided just to patch it or just even do a 10-year repair, the state wouldn't give you any money for it anyway. So this is the only way you get money is with a complete rip and and with a full warranty out to 20 to 30 years. State requires a 20-year minimum, but Garland many most of the time offers a 30-year. So, and last but not least, uh, one thing that weighs heavily on a lot of people's mind is, okay, Paul, we have to go out and borrow, you know, almost a million dollars. What is the fiscal impact? Debt service payment. Um, we don't exactly know what the interest rates are going to be when we have to go out and borrow the money. We're we're factoring about a $70,000 increase in debt service. That will not start until fiscal year 2028. And you may be scratching your head and asking why. So, today, here we are. We're in the special town meeting next week, next Tuesday from 8 to 8 at town hall. Okay? So, please remember at town hall is where ballots are to be cast. Um, right across the street, right across the street, right across the hallway and our register's office, we'll we'll have it all set up. 8 to 8 that will be the referendum. This project isn't looking to actually shovels in the ground, although it's not going to be a shovel in the roof. It will not start until summer of 2027. There'll be a lot of planning that goes on this summer, obviously in the fall. And then we don't obviously want to do this project in this when kids are in school. We're going to wait till the kids get out of school the following year, begin this project of summer of 2027, which means we'll go out and borrow the money, which won't hit until fiscal year 2028. Referendum question is going to be the following. Shall the town of Winchester appropriate two 2 I'll just read it. $2,898,670 for the cost related to the replacement

of the roof and portions of the building envelope at the Isabella M. Pearson Middle School and authorize the issue of bonds and notes in the same amount to finance the portion of the appropriation not defraid from grants. Voters approving the resolution will vote yes and those opposing said resolution will vote no. Absentee ballots will become available tomorrow in the town clerk's office. Before we go and adjourn this, are there any questions for myself, Chris from Garland, Roger, who's going to get us all of our money back?

I'd just like to say thank you to the board for getting this on the uh referendum date that, you know, we've talked about the the capital projects at the school for a while. So, thank you to the board for doing this. Any other questions? I got one question. Is there anything that we can do to prevent um further damage for the year that we have to wait before we can do it like mold or anything to that effect that that'll help us?

So, usually at this point, um when you're doing further repairs, you're just throwing money at a problem that you don't know where it's coming from. When the mo when the moisture is spread this far out, you're chasing leaks and they could spring up from anywhere. Um, so no, it's just uh replacing the roof. We just got to pray that it doesn't get any worse in the year. Yeah. Okay. A dry spring, a dry winter, a dry summer. We're golden. Not looking good. Just just a couple quick ones for you. One, I think I think I asked you this before. You have a the estimate. You kind of factored in a contingency for that, correct? Contingencies in is part of the estimate. Yes. Yeah,

you do have a contingency. Okay. Um, second, do you provide instruction? I I just had a roof like this done at my facility. Do you pro provide instruction to facilities at the school board of education on on proper future repair and maintenance? Um, so that it doesn't end up looking like that in in 15 years. Yes. Yep. That's correct. I I have a follow-up question that with with a warranty, why would we be doing any of the maintenance? We just call you guys have been take care of the warranty. I I correct. Um you just made the price. Exactly. Snow removal on the roof instead of having

Okay, I get the question. Basically, you want somebody knows what they're doing up on that roof at all times. Um and and again, a 20-year roof can go 30 years if it's maintained and dealt dealt with with delicate hands. Yes.

Correct. So we already have some compromised areas from my understanding. So how is that monitored so that we don't have or need to close the school or what are what are we at now what percent of current conditions

I am unaware of the complete percent or current conditions right now with it when when this starts, if this gets approved at referendum, the first step will be to form a building committee um that will look at the project. So, I think once the building committee assembles itself and it'll be a mixture of residents, board of ed, board of selectman, possibly even myself. I think at that point, you're going to see a lot more conversations going on because we we have an approved project and if we see or possibly potentially see a bigger roof, you're going to see different levers get pulled because of that. But until we actually rip open the roof, which we don't want to do when when when kids are in there, and we won't have all of our quote unquote boxes checked to get this project done in the summer of 26.

We've already had an assessment. We've had an assessment in the roof, but now we have to go to architectural design, which is going to take several months to do. And again, going back to that will probably put us into the August time frame, right? And I understand all that. My only concern is that we don't know of course anything. So this Chris mentioned that I think you asked to maintain there may be there may be. So are you prepared for that?

We always have to be prepared. I mean, and any additional thing, I mean, it's why the the the town has strong financial uh uh uh rainy day or general fund. So, if if there's an emergency and and we have a cave and for an example, it wasn't just so long ago that the boiler had broke at one of the schools and we had to do an emermergency appropriation of $500,000. We got it done. You know, fortunately, the town is in a very strong fiscal shape that if there is an emergency, we do have levers that we could pull and and get those get those problems addressed. So, I I feel confident that, you know, barring anything too catastrophic, that the town is very strong and and and it's I guess I'll say it it's it's because of past boards of selectment and current boards of selectment that we were able to build up our savings account again. So if there is an issue, we do have the means to address it where, you know, years before when the general fund was run out and and a roof collapsed, we had no ways of funding it. But if if catastrophic happens, we're able to take care of it.

Monitoring situation. Oh, yes. We'll be all Yeah, we'll be all over. Yep. We'll be all right. When do you think this would boil?

So I did a a rough schedule and it was based on a uh develop grant application from now through June. So, if if we stay on that course, uh it looks like we'll be going out to architect um in April. Um and then if everything proceeds as it should, we be advertising for roof contractors of February of 27. And that's really a good environment uh because what you want is your roof to be one of the first roofs in the state because these roofs require big companies and there's only a limited amount of them in Connecticut. So if you can get one of the big companies um uh contracted for your roof, then you're going to get the best price you can. Once they load up for the summer, because you can only do the roofs in the summer, then their prices start to go up. So we're we're we're poised to be in a good position position. Any other questions?

Yeah, I got one more. I thought Candy was talking was going to let her talk. Um, okay. So, during the picture um u presentation, you showed the drain. Okay. To me, that's a problem. Um, if anything is going to help protect that roof for one more year is to make that drain workable. So is that a costly option that we can take? Yeah. So there are we can go through this uh and look at all of the specifics because there are minor things but it's like how much do you want to pay? I mean the appropriate thing would be to do is to cut out all the entire job right there. That's

right. I mean that looks like somebody's doing clay pottery. Yeah. Um but yeah it's built up too much where obviously water can't drain and there's no strainer. So, this is something that um yeah, we could I mean, we want to water off the roof as as as quick as possible. Yeah. So, with that being that way, that's not going to happen. I'm just saying it might be wise to at least fix the drain anyway. I know we can't afford to do any other repairs, but that's to me that would be a a first thing to take care of. Sorry, I thought your question was specifically on mold or um but that that'll happen afterwards. Yeah.

So, fall into nor just just so you know that picture again that you had. That's a that's a common problem. I'm sure you've seen that a lot before. And that's why when I say proper maintenance, what normally happens there is the maintenance guys go up there, right? Those things plug like crazy. They catch the little umbrellas, pine needles, everything. And they got to clean them constantly or they have lakes up there. They won't drain. So, a lot of them go up. Those things just spin. an inch and you can pop them out and clean them. They spin them out, they toss them down on the lawn and they get rid of them because it's it's easier to clean them and they let the water go down. I've seen that multiple buildings where the guys take those off.

There's a requirement now for a secondary drain that has come into code after these were installed. So you can talk about that. Yeah, for overflow drains. Um yeah. Uh, so I mean, yes, there's tons of protocols uh for getting water off the roof. Uh, and this is something specific that we can address. Uh, there's a lot of little things that we can address um that will, you know, I'm not going to throw out a number there, but like $50,000 less or less um to take care of these little issues. And I could provide another scope of work to do all that. Um, but I hadn't done that prior to this meeting. Candy.

Yeah. I'd just like to comment as a former school official that the schools will be monitoring this. The schools will do a they have to test if there's mold. They have they do that now. They test for air quality. They do that now where the water is coming in. They'll look at waste and stop it so bad. I don't think it'll ever get to the point, you know, what you all talking about there. So, I think just I mean to make everybody feel better maybe uh you get the superintendent of schools just a little monitoring schedule from them. I'm sure they're going to have one, but they monitor all these things as we get to 27 and I think that would be good for everybody and their custodial staff making etc. We'll probably make not only but get recommendations for people in order to make sure that we get through maybe close with this. So, all of this uh discussion tonight was was really good. This now needs to become a project.

We all need to vote on the 24th. You know, you got to tell your friends, tell your neighbors, but the problem's not You saw the problem. It doesn't go away with warm weather. It's going to rain. It's going to snow. So, um not a well attended town meeting. They typically aren't, but we we need a project because all of this doesn't get fixed without the approval on the 24th. So, um, I'll get off my small soap box on that one. And then with that, any other Sorry, Mr. M. Any other questions? Only only question I have Paul is for you. Do you put this presentation on the town website? I can. We are on YouTube. So, I can

I'm just curious for the naysayers that we don't need to spend money on the roof. The roof's not that bad. Well, here you go. Yeah. Yeah. I I think you There's always There's always people like I promise you I'll be I'll be voting yes this time. I don't I don't see I was going to put that up there so people can actually see how how bad it is. So I make a motion to uh please let the uh mayor do this one. I make a motion to adjurnn to referendum resolve that the town of Winchester town meeting adjourn and the resolution on that.

Sorry the The resolution presented under item one of the notice of this meeting as recommended by the board of selectmen be submitted to vote at referendum to be held on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in accordance with the notice of this meeting. This referendum will be held at the Town of Winchester Town Hall located at 338 Main Street, Winstead, Connecticut. A motion. Second. Second. Any other discussion? All in favor? Meeting

is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Good deal.