Shelton Aldermen on Thursday voted unanimously to allocate $100,000 toward fixing fire code violations at the high school.
The move comes two months after a report released by the state Fire Marshal’s office listed 579 fire code violations at the school and mandated that Shelton officials come up with a “corrective action plan” to fix them.
The $100,000 allocated Thursday is in addition to $62,000 Aldermen voted to make available for fire rehabilitation work last year.
A Fire Rehabilitation Committee made up of city and school officials met May 29 for about a half-hour to go over what’s being done to fix the issues.
Mayor Mark Lauretti said that another meeting of the rehabilitation committee will probably occur in about three weeks.
The draft minutes of the May 29 meeting are posted below. Article continues after the document.
SHS FIre Rehabilitation Committee May 29 Minutes
According to the minutes, maintenance workers from the Board of Education have addressed 129 of the 579 violations listed.
But some of the problems are more complicated, like what to do about several classrooms that don’t have windows which could be used to escape an emergency.
The windowless classrooms were one of seven “design issues” cited in a letter sent to city officials a year ago summarizing the state fire marshal’s investigation to that point.
Lauretti said the city is working with state officials for a plan on how to fix those problems. “They’re overseeing what we’re going to do and not going to do.”
City officials have long complained that many of the violations documented by the state fire marshal weren’t brought up by state officials who signed off on the designs for a $25 million renovation of the school begun in 2006.
The code violations have been a constant and embarrassing problem for the city since 2008, when a fire started in the school.
Fire code violations were listed as an issue when it came time to renew the high school’s accreditation.
The public comment portion of Thursday’s Aldermen’s meeting began with two residents asking what the city is doing to address the violations.
“I would just like to know your input and where we’re going with this,” said Brian Lampart, a Shelton resident and Fire Marshal for the Town of Stratford.
Lauretti told Lampart to read the minutes of the recent rehabilitation committee meeting.
Later during the meeting, John “Jack” Finn, the Board of Aldermen’s lone Democrat, tried to get Lampart appointed to the fire rehabilitation committee.
Finn said he wasn’t “pointing fingers at anyone” but that a “fresh set of eyes” might help the committee with its work.
However, Finn’s motion died for lack of a second.
While discussing the issue, Aldermen weren’t sure who is currently on the committee, and held out the possibility that Lampart could be appointed at a special meeting this month if there’s a vacancy.
Steven Kennedy, a West Street resident who works as the facilities manager for the Trumbull school district, told Aldermen he thought some of the violations reflected “cultural” issues that should have been remedied sooner.
Lauretti told Kennedy to brings his concerns to the Board of Education.
“They control their buildings,” the mayor said.
Lauretti then brought up the fact that officials are trying to replace several doors inside the school that were replaced by the city’s insurance company in the wake of a 2008 fire.
The mayor said the replacement doors were not fire-rated adequately.
Kennedy called the lapse “amazing” and said it would not have happened if proper oversight had been in place.
“I mean, it’s just rote. It’s not that difficult,” Kennedy said. “I think there needs to be greater awareness of some of these things just in the day-to-day operations of the town.”
