By Patrick Anderson
Taxpayer dollars were poorly spent on a series of ineffective repairs that failed to keep Gloucester's decrepit Central Fire Station from filing up with water, the state's inspector general has found.
In his second critical report in as many weeks of city oversight, Inspector General Gregory Sullivan said the city had failed to identify poor performance and overbilling by a contractor hired to fix chronic drainage problems at the station.
The result, according to a letter from Sullivan received by the city late last week, was "unnecessary spending" and a project that has continued to allow water to flood the basement and pool on the fire truck bay floor.
Water accumulating in the 90-year-old station has either caused or exacerbated structural flaws in the building, which has been deemed inadequate as well as antiquated and a target for replacement.
"Because of the continuing water drainage issues, the (station) is still vulnerable to the same deterioration as before and this could undermine the value of any repairs made recently," Sullivan wrote to Mayor Carolyn Kirk.
"The city should immediately investigate possible cost recovery action against the architect and/or the engineer who worked for the architect," he added.
Two weeks ago, Sullivan said poor record-keeping in the Police Department had made it impossible to prove whether two senior police officers had been working a second job on city time.
The fire station project, planned after the city faced a series of workplace safety complaints around five years ago, was completed in the summer of 2008 at a cost of $270,000.
The project was supposed to fix the drains in the station's main bay where the trucks are kept and stop flooding with the installation of a new pump system in the basement to flush everything outside.
According to City Purchasing Agent Donna Compton, Roger A. Tremblay Contractors of Salem performed the work and design services were provided by Durland Van Voorhis Architects of New Bedford.
In the main vehicle bay, depressions in the floor prevent water, from either rain or the washing of apparatus, from entering the new drains, forcing firefighters to clear the area with squeegees.
More concerning, Sullivan's report notes, the basement continues to fill with water despite a large professional pump installed in the floor. Firefighters bought a small off-the-shelf pump to deal with that standing water.
The inspector general found other problems:
When the initial basement pump was delivered to the station, it would not fit through the door, resulting in a $534 change order for a pump that could be disassembled.
The contractor charged the city $1,000 in permit fees, even though the project did not require permits.
New overhead door sensors were not compatible with the existing door motors, resulting in $4,000 in change orders.
A concrete patch on the basement floor "is already cracking and crumbling because the concrete did not bond to the subsurface."
The drainage repair project was overseen by a now inactive Building Committee with then Fire Chief Barry McKay as the clerk of the works.
McKay could not be reached by phone yesterday.
Kirk said she would have the Building Committee reconvened to take another look at the project and, along with the city legal department, try to get money back or work redone.
"Absolutely there is a directive to get remediation," Kirk said yesterday. "I am going to have (City Solicitor) Suzanne Egan pursue refunds. The good thing about the inspector general's report is that it spells out where those opportunities are."
Interim Fire Chief Phil Dench, who was first contacted by the inspector general this summer, said of his beleaguered Central Fire Station: "It is what it is. There is still standing water in the basement."
The city has applied for a $5 million federal grant to replace the fire station with a new building on a playing field next to the former Fuller School.
Patrick Anderson may be contacted at 978-283-7000 x3455 or panderson@gloucestertimes.com
