Committee discusses Belmonte asbestos tile status

SAUGUS – The Saugus Finance Committee recommended that Town Meeting refer a pair of articles requesting additional money for the Belmonte Middle School repair project back to the Belmonte Building Committee after a heated debate over project costs.Article 37 seeks additional money for asbestos tile abatement while article 38 seeks additional money for project alternates.Finance Committee Vice-chairman Kenneth DePatto said the committee was under the impression that the asbestos tiles would be replaced as part of the project.?That should have been the number one priority,” said DePatto. “I?m very disappointed in this and I was a big supporter.”Finance Committee Chairman Robert Palleschi said he felt the committee was misled on project costs and had some “very serious concerns.”?I don?t know that we?ve been told the whole truth,” said Palleschi. “Somebody didn?t tell us what they should have a long time ago. Somebody missed the ball. My feeling is you should find the money in the budget to cover this.”School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said asbestos tile abatement was never part of the original scope because it?s not reimbursable by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is paying for 53 percent of the $18.9 million project.?It was known,” said Reed. “It was said at every presentation. We didn?t intend to rip up the tiles at all.”After a September meeting, asbestos removal was listed as the first alternate to be completed if additional funds became available. However, at a meeting on March 19, the Building Committee voted to remove that aspect altogether in order to seek separate funding from the town.School Committee member Arthur Grabowski said he was upset that Finance Committee members were raising concerns without having attended building committee meetings in two years. However, he acknowledged that strict guidelines imposed by the MSBA may have caused some confusion with the project.?Maybe we didn?t have the full understanding of the constraints MSBA put on this project,” said Grabowski. “These are their rules. The MSBA does not allow you to change the contract that was signed. Maybe we were a little naive going in.”Finance Committee member Theresa Katsos said it was “incomprehensible” that the town couldn?t spend its own money on asbestos, noting borrowing money now will cost more due to Saugus having its bond rating dropped last month.Reed acknowledged that the articles probably wouldn?t be approved, but said it will get the word out about what was left out of the project.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].