Keansburg must finish clean up

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Keansburg must finish clean up

Asbury Park Press, NJ*

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20071129/NEWS01/71129039

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KEANSBURG — After spending at least $625,000 to remove mold from

several classroom trailers at Port Monmouth Road School, the state

is leaving the job of mopping up various items inside the structures

to the school district.

Keansburg officials say they have been caught off guard by the

state School Development Authority's unwillingness to clean up

various potentially contaminated classroom materials inside the

trailers, a job that could cost at least $51,000.

" They're doing it half you-know what, " said Kelaher-Moran,

vice president of the borough's Board of Education. " We're now left

with the rest of the job. "

The mix-up over who will wipe down desks, tables, toys, books and

various other educational materials is not expected to delay when

239 preschoolers, who now spend half their school day in a gymnasium

at ph C. Caruso School, will begin attending classes in the

trailers, Board of Education President Manoes said.

The students, who began their year at Caruso, should be in the

trailers by Jan. 2 after they return from their winter vacation, he

said.

In recent days, Keansburg Superintendent Barbara A. Trzeszkowski has

been in talks with Weiner, SDA's chief executive officer, over

the issue, said Trzeszkowski and Larry Hanover, an SDA spokesman.

" We're still in discussions, " Trzeszkowski said Wednesday. " No

resolution has been reached. "

The Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act, which

created the SDA, limits what the authority can spend money on,

Hanover said. While the SDA can spend money to clean the facilities,

the act bars it from spending money on wiping down educational

materials, he said.

" Unfortunately, it's not something that anyone wants to deal with,

but it has to be done, " said Hanover, who added that the materials

should be wiped down to ensure they do not have mold. " We would

recommend cleaning them, just to be sure. "

Keansburg officials say they assumed the state would do a complete

clean-up of the trailers, where mold grew because of plumbing leaks

and because rainwater and rotting leaves collected in a space under

them, district environmental consultants have said.

" I don't think anyone ever specifically asked that (the SDA) clean

the instructional materials, " said Bernard Biesiada, Keansburg's

business administrator.

The SDA is paying $224,000 to Farmingdale's TCI Construction and

Management Company to replace the trailers' walls, ceilings and

floors; wipe down plumbing fixtures, and create a new drainage

system, Hanover said.

The rest of the project's total cost, estimated to be between

$625,000 to $650,000, is being spent on various architectural,

environmental and engineering costs, Hanover said. The cost is down

from a previous estimate of $700,000, he said.

TCI is expected to complete its work on the trailers by Dec. 10 and

its work on the drainage system by Dec. 19, Hanover said.

TCI is willing to clean the educational materials for $82,000 while

Aramark, Keansburg's maintenance company, has said it would take on

the job for $51,000, Manoes said.

Penton: (732) 888-2617 or kpenton@...