The following article,
written by Crispin Kott, is reprinted from The
Saugerties Times, 12-07-07 THE
RIGHT TRACK? By: Crispin Kott, Saugerties Times , December 07,
2007 The Saugerties Central School District's Board of
Education narrowly approved Dominic Zarrella as the new
construction project staff liaison and safety coordinator at
a special meeting last Wednesday. The decision was reached
after two months of being shelved at prior meetings. Zarrella, a high school dean and part-time special
education teacher, was approved by a 5-4 vote, with one
trustee saying he'd wrestled with his decision for a great
deal of time. "I am not opposed to this position," said school board
vice president George Heidcamp. "I do believe it is
necessary. But I'm really, really struggling with the
appointment." Heidcamp said he was concerned that Zarrella's special
education students, reportedly 15 in number, would find
themselves with no teacher once the immediate appointment
took place. "I've done a lot of research on this the last two months
and I've spoken to several people," said Heidcamp. "I've
been told that this is going to be an impact on these
children because of the bond between this individual and
these teachers." Heidcamp added that he was concerned that if Zarrella was
replaced as a special education teacher, it could come with
a hefty price tag. "If we move this gentleman from this
position, it's my understanding that he may be replaced at
some point," Heidcamp said. "If he is, it's going to be an
additional cost to the taxpayers." Heidcamp suggested that the role of the construction
project staff liaison and safety coordinator could be
performed by someone in superintendent Richard Rhau's
administration, or among those higher up the food chain at
the school level than a teacher. "We pay over a million dollars for the administration,"
Heidcamp said. "There are four principals in the senior
high. There are department chairs. We pay stipends for them,
we pay them a good salary. If the superintendent doesn't
want to do the job then he can delegate someone else to do
it." Also voting against Zarrella's appointment were trustees
James Steinhilber, Sam Fisco and Richard Petramale. Voting in favor of the appointment were Robert McCaig,
Mark Thompson, Michael Brennan, Terry Parisian and board
president Donald Tucker. Zarrella's appointment begins immediately, and runs
through June 30, 2008 when he could be re-appointed to the
position. Emergency repairs Also discussed at the November 28 meeting was a repair
job on the construction of a track encircling the football
field behind the Junior High School wing. On hand were
engineer Daniel Hershberg of Hershberg and Hershberg, the
original designer of the controversial six-lane track. According to Hershberg, an extension to correct a
shortfall in the width of the base of the track was
performed by cutting into a foot of the existing base and
overlaying the portion with roughly two feet of asphalt.
Hershberg said the correction represented no significant
concern of vertical failure upon completion as the extension
will not bear any extraordinary weight. Hershberg added that
he didn't believe that the extension would be in greater
risk of cracking or other damage. Chief among the concerns raised by the board was
liability -- that is, if the track falls into disrepair as a
result of the extension, whether it would be examined again
to ensure the repair was effective before the artificial
surface is applied after winter and whether the extension
would lead to increased drainage issues. According to the district's attorney, Daniel Petigrow of
Donoghue, Thomas, Auslander and Drohan, it would be up to
the project's architects to sign off on the track upon
completion to certify that the work was performed in
compliance with state codes and standards. He added that any
problems occurring as a result of a design flaw would make
either the architects or the engineer liable. Contractors
could be held responsible in the case of a flaw in the
installation of the track, added Petigrow. Site contractor Kingsley Arms is working with
subcontractors on the installation of the track, with
Copeland Coating Co. slated to install the surface of the
track in the spring. According to project manager Craig
Zandonella of U.W. Marx, the track's warranty would not go
into effect until completion. Superintendent Richard Rhau said the district would let
the school board decide whether to proceed with the surface
installation after an inspection is done by Copeland Coating
in the spring. "We'll have a chance to see what it looks like at the end
of the winter season," Rhau said. "The district is being
very well served by its team of professionals that are
working on this project. This is a very complex and
complicated and involved project. We have to expect that
here and there some things are not going to go as planned.
The good thing is that we caught the mistake." Some trustees expressed frustration that the extension
was begun without the district letting the Board of
Education know. "I'm personally disappointed," Steinhilber said. "I
believe that the superintendent should have notified us when
he first found out about the issue." The Saugerties Times was not in attendance at the special
meeting, but was provided with a clear audio recording by
board member Heidcamp after this reporter requested an
interview. The next regular meeting of the Board of Education is
scheduled for Tuesday, December 11 at 7 p.m. in the Junior
High cafeteria. Crispin Kott