Some Facts About Congers Elementary

With the Congers bond vote approaching on February 4, 2014, some people have been offering up solutions of what the school's future should hold in the event that the bond fails.  Some of the repeated solutions have been to "sell the building to a developer" or "demolish the building and leave it as open space."  I feel as others do, that on voting day, every voter should be armed with as many facts as possible.  Here are some facts about Congers School to consider:

1.  Selling a school building requires that stringent rules which have been set in place by the NYS Education Department be followed.  The rules are somewhat complicated and I will delve deeper into them in a future newsletter.  I would just add at this moment though, that anyone who thinks that they or any school board has the option of "selecting" the buyer is grossly misinformed.  If you read on, I will explain why it is highly unlikely that any developer would desire to put in a bid on Congers Elementary.

2.  Congers Elementary was originally built in 1927.  Throughout the years as student population increased, the need to add to the original structure culminated with two more additions being built.  The first addition was built in the mid-fifties, while the second was built in the early seventies.  Throughout the country during each of these construction phases, asbestos was widely used due to its low cost, ability to absorb sound and its resistance to fire.  Congers school, just as many if not all of our other schools in the Clarkstown portfolio used this building material extensively.  The hazards of asbestos back then were generally deemed to be speculative as opposed to accepted scientific conclusions.

We now know through advanced scientific studies that asbestos is a hazardous material that serves as precursor to lung cancer as well as mesothelioma.  The encouraging facts are that if asbestos is in its solid state, there is no health hazard to humans.  The material only becomes a threat when it breaks apart and becomes airborne.

Be sure to understand, that I don't feel that any of our schools pose any health risks to our children or our teachers.  The point that I want to make voters understand is that when demolishing a building that contains asbestos, it WILL BE  extremely costly.  Asbestos removal requires the hiring of an asbestos abatement contractor.  This requires that workers be hazardous material trained in working in "space suits", removal and packaging of the contaminated materials.  Work areas must be vacuum sealed and air monitoring must be done throughout the work day.  These workers are paid an extremely high rate of pay due to the hazards they face.  Asbestos can be found in ceiling and floor tiles as well as plaster and electrical, plumbing and building insulation.  The only way for a contractor to truly know how much of a building contains asbestos is to cut away sections and have them lab analyzed.  The abatement of asbestos is an extremely slow process which is very costly.  Once a building is completely abated of all asbestos, then the actual demolition of the structure can commence.  This is also very costly, especially since NYS schools must pay prevailing wages.  These wages are typically at least twice as much as it would cost to provide the service privately.  It is commonly understood that the abatement of asbestos and demolition of a structure would cost more than the actual upgraded replacement cost of a replica new structure.

Carl Thurnau who is the New York State coordinator of the Office of Facilities Planning, stated a couple of months ago that he would project that the complete demolition of Congers Elementary would cost about 3 million dollars.  I am going to submit that Mr. Thurnau is making his projections based on the cost of labor up in Albany (this is where he works out of).  I wouldn't be one bit surprised to find out that a scope of work done for asbestos abatement and demolition of Congers Elementary will return a price tag of 4-5 million dollars!  Remember, we are already being billed $1,586,753 dollars to tear down and replace ONE wall and a small section of roofing.Please take these as important facts to consider when voting on whether or not to approve a $26 or $10 (if and when we get state aid) increase to your ANNUAL tax bill.  Whether it is a $2 monthly increase or an 83 cent monthly increase (if and when we get state aid), the consequences of leaving Congers Elementary vacant will be dire for all of Clarkstown.  Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you feel may want to become more informed before the bond vote.

Remember, if you hear someone reel off that the simple and final solution to Congers Elementary is to either demolish it or sell it to a developer, please correct the individual.  If the individual is an ideologue, they may still feel compelled to peddle this propaganda.  That's fine.  Just remember to do your thing and vote "yes" for the Congers Elementary bond on February 4, 2014.

Pete Bradley
Clarkstown Preservation Society- President
(914)772-1244
pmbradley1@yahoo.com