By NANCY HILER
The oldest of the buildings, Newbridge Road School, which went up in 1924, was rated unsatisfactory owing largely to its heating plant (boiler, controls and piping) and roofing system being "well beyond" their useful lives. There were also extensive water infiltration problems, and the building's infrastructure is starting to break down, said Saverio Belfiore, the architect from H2M Group who presented the study. The five other North Bellmore District school buildings and the public library, also owned by the school district, were rated satisfactory.
All buildings need upgrades and repairs, including site and interior flooring and plumbing improvements, as well as changes to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Possibly the most serious issue looming for the five other school buildings is that their heating systems' useful lives are nearing their end, all around the same time since all were built in the late 1940s to '50s. The schools are John G. Dinkelmeyer School, which was just elevated to that level following a major roof replacement this spring, Saw Mill Road School, Martin Avenue School and Jacob Gunther School in North Bellmore, as well as Park Avenue School in North Merrick.
Dominic Mucci, the North Bellmore schools superintendent, said he has shared all information about the condition of district facilities with the Board of Education as he has received it since he came the district less than two years ago. Together, he and the board arranged for the presentation of the findings to the public.
Mucci encouraged the architect to answer questions candidly throughout the meeting. He said he wanted the community to have a "realistic picture" of the buildings' current conditions and their needs for the future.
"I am trying to understand why we waited until it got this bad," a puzzled Newbridge Road School parent said. "I don't want this to happen again. It's not fair to the next generation."
"I can assure you that the intent of this Board of Education and this superintendent is to be proactive," Mucci said.
Board of Education President Mary Oporto agreed. "We are tired of doing things on an emergency basis," she commented.
A price tag of close to $18 million was placed on the repairs necessary to bring the six buildings and library into minimal compliance with current building codes. These are "bare-bones costs," Belfiore said. A comprehensive survey of this type must be conducted by school districts every five years in accordance with New York State Education Department requirements. A visual inspection must be performed annually.
The H2M Group, an independent Melville-based engineering firm, was first brought in to the North Bellmore School District in 2001 to inspect a roof at the Saw Mill Road School that needed to be replaced because it was installed incorrectly in 1987, according to Assistant to the Superintendent Toni Ann Cincotta, the school's former principal. The firm has been called in to complete the annual visual inspections of district facilities ever since, and conducted the in-depth, five-year survey for the first time this year.
The presentation to the public summarized the full study, which breaks building conditions into 96 categories. The complete findings are posted on the state Education Department's Web site, a link to which is being posted on the school district's Web site, www.northbelllmoreschools.org.
Mucci asked the meeting attendees to spread the word about the district's announcing the formation of a Facilities Study Committee last week. "We invite the community to be part of the process," he said.
