Civic center asbestos targeted

POTSDAM — The village Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday night approved four abatement projects totaling $43,000 to remove asbestos throughout the civic center.

"The work has to be done," Administrator Michael D. Weil said.

The village hopes to begin work as soon as this week to remove asbestos from a pipe that runs through the men's bathroom and a nearby hallway in the civic center basement. That project, which will cost $2,950, gets top billing because there are time constraints on work that needs to be done in the bathroom.

Potsdam Public Library needs to make sure its $46,000 project to renovate the basement restroom into a unisex, handicapped-accessible facility is under way by September to fulfill the terms of a state grant agreement, Mr. Weil said.

The lowest-priority project — according to Mr. Weil — is also the building's most visible problem: the shuttered courtroom.

"The court is not being used right now and it won't be after, because it's going to look like a war zone with all the tile torn off," the administrator said. "It can be isolated completely. There's not an urgency to do that from a timing issue."

The courtroom has been closed for about a month, since a leak formed in the ceiling. Tests conducted earlier this summer showed that the mastic adhering tiles to the ceiling contain asbestos.

The project to remove the asbestos material from the courtroom is estimated to cost $18,100. Depending on how much material the contractor finds to be contaminated, the project could either be classified as large or small, which would have different requirements for abatement, Mr. Weil said.

The village has been holding court sessions in the civic center board room until a solution is found. In the meantime, the town and village are trying once again to work together to figure out a way to renovate and share a court space. Both municipalities have vowed to deal with their asbestos problems before they come to any conclusions on that front.

The village will pay about $3,000 extra to have the work for the abatement project in the planning and development office conducted over two weekends, so employees can continue their work uninterrupted. It will cost $18,500 to remove asbestos insulation from pipes that run above the basement office's ceiling.

The other abatement project will cost $3,450 to remove asbestos insulation from one pipe in the front clerk's office and three fittings in the village maintenance shop and the fire station basement.

Mr. Weil estimated that all four abatement projects could be completed within two or three months. The $43,000 will come from the unallocated fund balance.

Trustees opted not to approve funding for extra air monitoring in the abated areas, which would have cost about $500 per day. Three separate tests have shown that the civic center's air is safe.