Price of asbestos removal at college site increases
Removing asbestos from the buildings on the former Morristown College campus will cost approximately $980,000, about $274,000 more than the initial estimate, officials announced Tuesday afternoon.
Council members unanimously approved the change order, but expressed optimism they may be able to trim approximately $100,000 from the final bill by leaving brick on-site and not razing the science building, which is roof-less, but could be repurposed.
The 39-percent increase in asbestos removal – before work begins – is attributable to an incomplete survey that resulted from the $707,000 estimate, according to Joe Stritmatter, vice president of development for Trifecta Demolition and Remediation.
Stritmatter told councilmembers he couldn’t conduct a comprehensive asbestos assessment because city government didn’t yet own the campus, so his access was restricted.
What the more complete assessment revealed, Stritmatter says, was additional asbestos insulation on pipes and a rare asbestos-containing “popcorn” ceiling in one of the buildings.
Scott Purkey, who owns All-Star Construction and Demolition, which lost the bid to the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Trifecta, didn’t get what he wanted when he asked councilmembers to rebid the project in light of the large increase in the estimate.
It’s not that simple, according to Morristown City Attorney Dick Jessee.
Jessee said city government’s $707,000 agreement with Trifecta is virtually indistinguishable from an enforceable contract.
Jessee said city government could bid the additional work found in the second asbestos survey, but councilmembers opted to award the contract for all the work to a single asbestos-abatement company.
Stritmatter says the asbestos removal and demolition could begin as early as December and is expected to take about 10 weeks. City government paid approximately $900,000 for the 52-acre campus and funded a study about potential future uses.
The leading proposal is to transform the campus into a park.
In unrelated business that involved spending a large sum of money, councilmembers voted unanimously to spend $390,000 for 7.2 acres of land on Central Church Road that will be home to the west-central Morristown Fire Department station.
The property is large enough for a new fire hall, a fire tower and a large pond at which firefighters could conduct annual pump tests, according to Chief Bill Honeycutt.
The Manley-area fire hall has single-sex sleeping quarters and is too small for the current generation of fire trucks, officials say.
-By Robert Moore, Tribune Staff Writer
