ABOUT TOWN: Stoughton Town Hall Sports New Roof (And Former Town Manager Finalist for New Job)

TOWN HALL SPORTING A NEW ROOF:  It was well worth the wait. Stoughton's historic Town Hall is now sporting a new slate roof that should last longer than any child born today will live.

Michael Flaherty, Senior Project Manager from Russo-Barr Associates, the engineers, as well as Michael Meadows, manager of Meadows Construction Company of Topsfield, the contractor for the project, proudly showed off their work Friday morning, October 26.

They finished early, and on budget. Both said that along the way, they made a couple of small, but necessary changes, which added about $17,000 in costs, bringing the project to around $400,000.

"We added extra snow fencing on four sides (which prevents large clumps of ice or snow from falling off the building to the street below), lead coated downspouts ($7,000), and carpentry to replace rotted wood boards," Meadows told me.

Interim Town Manager Joseph D. Feaster, Jr. took a ride in the Meadows Construction scoop to look over the roof work at about 50 feet up. About Town, with his fear of heights, went up eighty feet in the shaky pail, and snapped the photos you see in the gallery.  

The Town Hall Roof Committee, which oversaw the project, deserves some kudos. Bob Grover was Chairman, and was joined by building commissioner Tom McGrath, town engineer Ben Feehan, and members (and builders) Steve Bates and Nelson Rodrigues.  

The project was funded by $374,000 from 2010 Town Meeting, and an additional $100,000 from the Community Preservation Act funds, approved at 2012 Town Meeting. The project, which began in mid-July of this summer, was completed on October 26.  

The Selectmen established the five member Town Hall Roof Committee on November 1, 2011.  In January of 2012, the Committee selected Russo Barr and Associates to complete the design.  On March 14, Russo finished the design plan and the project was put out to bid. Bids were received on April 10, and Meadows Construction Company, the lowest bidder, was selected. 

On May 21, Town Meeting voted additional funds to order the slate roof, which we were told would last 100 years, rather than the twenty or so for the cheaper alternative.

On July 16, 2012, the Town of Stoughton sent a Notice to Proceed to Meadows Construction.  The roof was completed in three months and 10 days.

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STANKIEWICZ FINALIST FOR WELLFLEET JOB:  Speaking of Town Hall, Former Stoughton Town Manager Mark Stankiewicz is among the final four for the job as Town Administrator for Wellfleet on Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Times reports.

But, Stankiewicz is up against a bit of a political tide in this tony town. Two of the other finalists have strong connections to Wellfleet. Timothy King (the current assistant town administrator) and Harry Terkanian (the former town moderator) also made the cut, along with North Branford, CT Interim Town Manager Bonnie Therrien.  

Stankiewicz was most recently Town Manager in Plymouth, the largest town in the state of Massachusetts. The Stoughton resident has 25 years of municipal management experience in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and he holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration degrees.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Stoughton Firefighter Eric Hoffman, who also runs the Mass Incident Paging pages on Facebook and twitter, letting followers know of all sorts of accidents, fires, etc. in the area. His photos have appeared on Stoughton Patch; to Amy Nachbar, a UCLA grad and famed photo journalist, who is the new editor for the Canton/Sharon Patch sites; and to Susan Rosman, the principal of the combined school for Ahavath Torah Congregation of Stoughton and Temple Beth Am in Randolph.

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