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Fairfield Warde's Roof Costs Could Drop $5 Million

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The cost of the repairs to Fairfield Warde High School’s roof have been cut nearly in half. A change in state law shaved an estimated $5 million from the debt Fairfield’s taxpayers would have to take on to replace the leaking roofs.

State Rep. Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield, worked out the change. She and the rest of Fairfield’s statehouse delegation — state Sen. John McKinney, a Republican, and state Reps. Kim Fawcett, a Democrat, and Tony Hwang, a Republican — worked out the change and pushed it through the state legislature at the end of the recent session.

"On behalf of the town, I am very grateful to our Fairfield state delegation for all of their efforts in helping the town qualify for state reimbursement for the Fairfield Warde High School roof replacement project,” First Selectman Michael Tetreau said. “This positive news is a much-welcomed benefit for Fairfield taxpayers."

Fairfield’s government earlier this year approved a four-year project to replace most of the roofs on Fairfield Warde High School. The roofs are all more than 20 years old and require frequent patches to repair leaks. The town expected to spend as much as $11 million on the project.

Bids on the project came in well under the estimate, at just more than $6 million. Fairfield can also now get state money for the work because of the change in law.

State law requires roofs to have a pitch to allow water runoff. Because Fairfield Warde’s existing roofs are flat, using a different drainage system, contractors would have needed to add onto the building’s frame to meet the regulation. The architects in charge of the project told the town government during the approval process that the extra work would cost as much as $5 million.

Fairfield’s delegation added an amendment to a law that made a special exception for replacements rather than new construction. "The original intent of the law was to cover new construction, not replacement projects," the four said in a joint statement, "so there was a good reason for us to seek the changes we needed."

With the change, Fairfield can now qualify to be reimbursed by the state for some of the work. To do that, the town needs to appoint a building committee. The first selectman’s office put out a call for volunteers this March but so far no committee has been formed. 

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