School kitchen upgrade plans move forward in Cheshire 

CHESHIRE – Upgrades are likely to be made to the Norton School kitchen area in the near future, but exactly how the work will be completed stays up in the air.

In February, the Public Works Commission reached out to the City Council for guidance on completing the required project as the cost of the improvements is expected to be high.

Steven Durkee, secretary of the building commission, said architect Wojas Arch LLC’s estimate for the project is $ 532,516 but only $ 370,063 will be available for construction after the city pays the design professionals. The city originally provided $ 400,000 for the project.

“This creates a shortfall of $ 160,000,” said Durkee. “The project also requires code compliance and disabled work.”

Durkee provided the council with a number of options, one of which was to postpone construction on the elementary school until 2022 to see if additional funding might be available by then.

“Another option could be to reduce the project to the current budget,” said Durkee. “However, the professionals cautioned that this could be difficult given the workload and the need for new equipment. We could also do a limited scale project this summer focusing on installing a new walk-in fridge and freezer on the outside of the building. “

The latter option would only cost the city $ 158,925 instead of $ 532,516.

Durkee went on to explain how dated the Norton kitchen is.

“Right now Norton has a non-compliant kitchen,” he began. “There’s no room for proper culinary sinks or hand basins, and storage is a big problem. In this project, the food lines should flow better during the lunch break and the children should get on and off efficiently in 20 minutes. “

Councilor Tim Slocum recalled a similar renovation at Doolittle School, which included two food service lines instead of one to improve efficiency. “Is this the same type of renovation that has been going on at Doolittle? I remember that went very well and looked great, ”he added.

Durkee replied that hopefully the work would be similar to the improvements made at Doolittle, noting that Norton would also create two server lines.

Council chairman Rob Oris gave his opinion on what should be done with the project and how the building commission should move forward.

“The architect estimates $ 532,516 and the project isn’t even advertised,” he began. “… I recommend that we try to bring the project cost below the $ 400,000 referendum amount, place a bid, and get real hard numbers in the hopes that the project can move ahead sooner rather than later. I am happy with the allocation of some additional funding because the students definitely need it, but what I don’t support is postponing it for another year and a half due to the referendum. I believe the (Building Commission) can refine these numbers and do some value engineering to bring some of those numbers down. “

Oris and other council members also mentioned separating the freezing project from the overall kitchen renovation and making it an entirely separate project with its own schedule and cost. Durkee agreed to forward Oris and the Council Recommendation to the Commission so that it can reconsider its options and come back with an approved draft.

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