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Public works director concerned for workers’ safety

Building ventilation, lighting problematic

By Bert Lehman


Clintonville’s public works director is concerned about the safety of city employees in the public works building.

At the Clintonville Streets Committee’s May 2 meeting, Kray Brown said the building has irritated him since he was hired more than two years ago.

Brown said city workers need to use flashlights or some other form of external lighting because of the poor lighting inside the building.

“I’ve been looking at lighting here for some time and how much money do we want to put into the building,” Brown said. “But I look at safety. Safety is No. 1 for us right now, and I think that no matter what happens with the facility, a couple of the items that I think are really important with one being the lighting.”

Brown said he is looking at replacing 42 lights inside the building. This would include replacing fluorescent lights with LED lights, which he said would help illuminate the inside of the building.

The cost to change the lights would be around $4,500, Brown said.

The 13 garage doors are also an issue, Brown said.

He said 12 of the doors are new. The one that is not new lacks seals on the door.

“What we need to do is adjust the doors to make sure that they seal properly,” Brown said.

Jim Supanich, streets committee chairman, asked Brown if his department has a building maintenance budget to pay for these types of items. Brown said yes.

“Wouldn’t this go into that maintenance account?” Supanich asked.

“Among other things, yes,” Brown responded.

“Are you saying you don’t have money in the maintenance account?” Supanich asked.

“I do, to a point,” Brown responded. “There’s not much in there.”

Brown said concrete work to the apron approaches outside the building needs to be completed, adding his department could do the work, but it would require $1,500 in materials.

Brown also brought up the building’s ventilation.

“If we are going to look at 10 years (before we replace the building), if we’re going to look at a long period of time, we’ll have to start looking at HVAC,” Brown said. “One of the biggest things that I look at here is the ventilation of the building itself, exhaust. We don’t have that. We do not have an exhaust system in there.”

Brown said the department cannot continue on like this because it is a health hazard, but an exhaust system won’t be cheap.

Supanich questioned Brown about two personnel doors, which are meant to serve as fire exits, that were listed as inoperable in a recent facilities study.

Brown said one of the doors opens, but the other has not worked for years.

“Somebody tried to get into the building and actually broke the handle off and that door has never been used, I guess,” Brown said. “Talking to the guys who have been there forever, nobody has ever used that door. So as a result of that it’s kind of rusted shut. That is something we’re going to look at eventually replacing.”

Supanich said the door should be replaced now, to which Clintonville Mayor Richard Beggs agreed.

Brown said the items he brought up are more of a safety hazard than a personnel door that will not open.

“My biggest priority in this, and I’m going to tell you straight out, is HVAC, exhaust,” Brown said.

“But you’re not going to get that this year,” Supanich said. “We might be able to fix some of these other things this year, depending on what we get back from the audit.”

Committee member Tammy Strey-Hirt questioned not addressing an exhaust system when it is a safety issue.

“Granted, but we have the same problem in a lot of other facilities that have to be addressed,” Supanich said.

He added: “I’m not downplaying the safety issue of the heating and air conditioning by any means. But we have to be a little practical in what we can do. I have no problem with us recommending to facilities (committee) doing the heating and air conditioning. I just realistically don’t think you’re going to see the money.”

“Most of these items are irritating things that would be nice if you could fix them, but the bottom line is that building will never be up to standard, never meet the requirements, and any money you pour into it is a total waste. The one exception to that, perhaps, is the HVAC,” Beggs said.

Supanich said if the city maintains the existing systems in the building the health impact can be minimized.

“We’re trying to minimize the exposure to the people and minimize the hazard to the people within the constraints that we have to work with,” Supanich said. “If we maintain that unit, get it inspected, if you’re not happy with once a year, twice a year. Make sure its ventilated properly. Making sure we’re not throwing carbon monoxide in the building. We may be able to stretch it for a while. It’s not the best situation, but until we can come up with some way of financing, that’s the point.”

Brown responded: “That’s pretty much what I’ve done here since I came on board. … I’m going to continue on doing that. The problem is I think we need to be, and I need to be open about this. I can’t keep doing this because then I feel that I’m not doing my part in the health and safety of whomever that’s in there, so I need to be a little vocal on this stuff.”

The committee recommended sending the items to the Clintonville Facilities Committee for further discussion.

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