Narragansett Council approves floor replacement project

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — The Narragansett Town Council last week unanimously approved application and preparation for Stefano Brothers Construction Inc. to install Penntek floor coating at four parks and recreation ladies and mens bathrooms, one concession area and one closet, for the cost of $27,264.

The town and company will analyze the areas where the town received quotes for – the bathrooms at the Sprague Little League complex, Dominic Christofaro Park, Boone Street Park, and parks and recreation facility on Mumford Road, the concession area at Christofaro Park, and the Boone Street Park maintenance closet.

The goal is to have all baseboards, toilets and trim removed by the last week of the month, officials said, adding that all floor locations will be scheduled for the same time in early February. The goal is to have all the flooring completed in about three days, Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Kershaw said.

The funds for the project will come out of the town’s capital budget, Kershaw said last week at the council meeting.

Money was not planned to be pulled from the capital budget this year, however, the parks and recreation department ultimately moved forward due to the current conditions of the restrooms.

“Right now, just about all of our outlying restrooms in town … they (have) years and years of paint coating over concrete,” Kershaw said. “Each year, throughout the winter and early spring, members of the parks maintenance staff, they will scrape away the paint, sand down to the concrete and then paint again.”

Kershaw added that this system has not been working efficiently – and has caused ruts and holes in the concrete. It has also been difficult for workers to get the smell of waste out of the floor, which has been damaged by the usage of sport cleats on the surface.

“We’ve thought about doing this process earlier,” Kershaw said in regards to the new coating installation. “We started with the restroom at the tennis building a couple of years ago. It’s the same type of coating and … it’s really holding up excellently … this system, though it is quite costly, this is a process that should last us for 25-30 years.”

The floor coating that the town plans to install is of epoxy material, which has flaking within several layers. This helps combat wear and tear and makes it a non-slip type surface.

“To spend this money now, and have the company come out in one shot and do all of these restrooms within a couple weeks period will save us money in the long run,” Kershaw added.

In other business, the town council, through an amendment of ordinance and unanimous vote, changed its regular meeting times from 7:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The meetings will still be held on the first and third Monday, each month. Work session dates will be on the first and fourth Mondays.

“I can understand, especially with the weather getting colder, and we do have seniors who want to attend who can benefit for an earlier start time,. I do agree with that and I’m totally understanding of that,” Narragansett resident Al Alba said at the meeting.

Alba also requested if there could be an amendment made in the future, in order to accommodate anyone who could run late due to the new start time.

“I don’t know if we could possibly move the open forum to 7:30 … have that change a bit in time.”