Property Committee
Trinity-Clifton Pastoral Charge
6:30 pm, Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Minutes
Present: Graeme Linkletter (Ch), Doug Miller, Austin Bowman, Dave Essery, Don Cudmore and Mario Zirone
Regrets: Bill Irwin, Judy Irwin, John Enman, John Kamphuis, and Harry Hibbs
The first part of the meeting was a presentation by the Archives Committee Chair, Katherine Dewer and her assistant, Keltie MacPhail. The presentation was held in the Archives Room from 6:30 to 7:30. Katherine explained the accomplishments of the Archives committee during the past two years. The publications (such as Annual Reports, Committee minutes, artifacts, etc.) have now been all catalogued as to their location, (ie: at TUC Archives Room, Provincial Archives or at Maritime Conference office). Katherine reviewed many of the historical highlights of the founding Church, dating back to the late 1700’s until the present. It was an interesting and informative session and appreciated by the Property Committee members.
1.0 Business Meeting: Called to order at 7:30 pm
2.0 Approval of Agenda: The agenda was unanimously approved as circulated.
Masonry Repair: Jake Fonseca (MBS Construction) was invited to brief the meeting on the masonry repairs that have now been completed on the 4 buttresses (2 on the SE and 2 on the NE corners). Jake explained that the cracks in the bricks were partly because of footing deterioration as well as moisture migration into the interior of the buttresses. Freeze/thaw cycles over past decades had caused the bricks to become stressed with cracks resulting. The two footings on the SE corner were manually excavated down to solid stone and any loose or broken material was removed. The footing was then repaired with poured concrete, all cracked bricks in the 4 buttresses were removed and replaced, and copper flashings were placed at the wall joints on the top of the 14 cap stones.
During the repairs a section of the interior buttress bricks (S E Sydney St.) was exposed. It was observed that the original lime type mortar between some of the buttress interior bricks has deteriorated over the past century. The impact of this deterioration on strength of the buttress is not known. In order to rectify this situation, the buttress would have to be dismantled and completely rebuilt – a very expensive operation.
The S E eave trough is a few inches shorter than the roof, which resulted in some roof drainage ending up on the S E buttress. This may have contributed to moisture related damage within this buttress. In order to repair this eave trough, the power company had to first insulate the high voltage wires adjacent to the buttress. Double copper flashings were fabricated (by MBS) and then attached to the roof and gutter above this buttress. These flashings will now deflect the roof rain water directly into the gutter. Mario suggested there should be an additional downspout at the end of the gutter to avoid potential overflow of the gutter in heavy rain events. Since the scaffolding has been removed, this is not possible at this time. The situation will be monitored to determine if an additional downspout is necessary.
The wire screens over the 7 stained glass windows on the South side of the church have deteriorated to the extent that they no longer provided any protection to the windows. The rusted and broken screens were most unsightly and were a potential liability. MBS removed the screens for the labor cost. The Property Committee will be responsible to dispose of the screens.
Jake was thanked for completing the necessary repairs and for his attendance and review of the completed work. Documentation of the repairs and costs will follow.
3.0 Approval of Minutes: The October 12th minutes were reviewed. It was moved by Dave E. and seconded by Mario that the minutes be approved as written. Motion carried.
4.0 Business Arising from the minutes:
Barrier Free Washroom – Mario questioned why progress on the barrier free washroom has not proceeded. He expressed his opinion that not having a barrier free washroom is unacceptable and that the project should proceed asap. A decision needs to be made as to the preferred location. Three locations are being considered (Nursery area, elevator room or a washroom by the gym stairs. Judy will be asked to expedite this matter.
Sign for the Main Door: Mario indicated the sign and supporting pedestal are complete and are ready for use. This sign will be placed by the main doors when they are closed for the cold weather.
Fire Safety: Mario and Gail MacNutt have met to discuss this matter. Gail is updating the Fire Safety Manual. Once this is completed, Council will be asked to approve it. A fire safety drill will be planned for in the future. The previous fire drill was in 2014. Mario is planning to provide diagrams of the church layout indicating where fire exits, alarms, hydrants, etc. are located. These will be posted at appropriate locations within the church.
Carpet Cleaning: A commercial cleaning service has cleaned the carpets in the Chapel and the lower hallways. AA has paid the cost of cleaning for the Chapel.
Future Major Projects: For energy conservation and person comfort, it has been customary over many years not to open the main Prince St. sliding wood doors during the cold weather. This creates an unwelcoming situation as well as an inconvenience to persons attending church services, etc. Considerable discussion was held on different ideas for an inside glass vestibule or sliding glass doors. Mario explained the Building Code requirements for assembly exit doors and noted the existing wood doors are not in Code compliance. Mario will be meeting with the City Fire Dept. officials regarding fire safety issues and will discuss the situation with the existing sliding wood doors. Mario stated that “Life safety trumps Heritage concerns”.
5.0 New Business
5.1 Snow Removal Contract: The snow removal and salting service quote from M&M Resources was reviewed. The quote is similar to the previous year contract. The service during the past year was very satisfactory. It was moved by Doug and seconded by Mario that the quote be accepted. Motion Carried.
5.2 Repair Prince Street Window: During a recent wind storm (Hurricane Matthew) one of the exterior window panes on the West stained glass window (over the main door) was broken.
O’Connor Glass Ltd provided a quote to supply and install Lexan 34” x 31”. It was moved by Austin and seconded by Doug that the quote from O’Connor Glass be accepted. Motion carried.
5.3 – Emergency Exit Lights: Cudmore Electric was asked to examine all the emergency exit illuminated signs in the church. Three of the illuminated Exit lights need to be upgraded with battery and emergency lighting. A revised quote from Cudmore Electric will be requested for the combo pack Exit units. It was moved by Mario and seconded by Dave E. that the emergency lights be upgraded with the combo pack lights (running person type). Motion carried.
5.4 Elevator operation during a power outage: The recent power outage during the church service brought to attention the potential for a serious situation if an emergency occurred during the power outage or the possibility of someone being trapped in the elevator while between floors.
Options discussed were:
-have dedicated automatic stand-by power generator for the elevator(s),
-install an Emergency Rescue Unit (ERU) on the Otis elevator. This allows the elevator to descend to the Richmond Street level, thereby avoiding a “trapped in elevator” situation, - have a specialized wheel chair (ie: Evacuscape chair) that slides down stairs with one person operating the chair,
-have portable ramps for the Narthex and outside stairs,
-construct a barrier free ramp at the East emergency exit doors or - rely on Emergency Services (911) to resolve any emergency situation.
A quote from Cudmore Electric was discussed for the necessary electric connections to the elevator(s) from a standby generator. Following a discussion on the pros and cons of a standby generator, it was decided the appropriate stand-by generator along with all its fail safe connections with the elevator would be quite complicated and costly ($15,000+). The reliability of this system would depend on a high degree of maintenance and operational oversight by trained persons. The Property Committee did not support proceeding with this option at this time.
TUC’s main responsibility is to avoid the “stuck in elevator” situation. The Emergency Rescue Unit (ERU) on the Otis elevator would prevent this from happening and should be given further consideration. (Estimated cost $6000.)
Mario will be meeting with City Fire safety officials and will solicit their opinions on the best way to proceed on this issue. Further investigations will be need before a decision is made on this issue.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM. The next meeting will be on December 14th at 6:30 pm.
This photo shows one of the cap stones on the SE and NE buttresses. The mortar around the buttress cap stones was removed and replaced. A copper flashing was manufactured and mortared in place at the top joint of each of the 14 cap stones. This flashing will protect the otherwise exposed joint from potential moisture penetration into the buttress.
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A new portable sign for the main door to indicate the door is closed (for the cold weather) and to use the side doors or Richmond Street door to enter the sanctuary.
This photo shows the West stained glass window above the main entrance. Note that an exterior window pane in the center of the window was broken during the wind storm (Hurricane Matthew).
The window is being repaired.
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