Office of Facilities Planning
Newsletter #21– November

Introducing the first Project Manager, Barbara Boardman. Actually, Barb would come first alphabetically according to last names, but she was also the first of the present five Project Managers to fill that position. Many of you will know Barb since she has been with the Department about 30 years and roughly half of that time has been served right here in Facilities Planning. She was also the first female Project Manager and jokingly refers to herself as "one of the old boys" (i.e., like Dom Desimone!).

Barb’s husband, Tim, retired from the East Greenbush C.S.D. three years ago where he was teaching social studies at the high school level. Barb is extremely jealous that he can stay home and sleep in a nice cozy bed on those cold winter weekdays when she has to trudge off to work, so she is planning to retire next summer (July 5, to be precise!).

She also has a wonderful son, Brett Maryott, who works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston training astronauts in landing the space shuttle! She is extremely proud of his accomplishments as a 26-year old but feels that he has still a lot to offer our world, and particularly our own United States of America, in his future.

Barb and Tim also have a dog, Casey, that is over 15 years of age and that they love dearly.

If you haven’t met Barb yet, introduce yourself to her when you see her—she’s easy to spot! Just look for the shortest redhead with the biggest laugh!

In our Newsletter for September we included information regarding State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Changes with hyperlinks to take you to pertinent information on our web site. Since there are still many questions regarding the changes in the process, we are providing additional information. Please see the article added to our web site entitled SED’S Changing Role in the SEQRA and Building Permit Process. The hyperlink to it is: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/SEQRA/SEQRA_article3_111301.html

We will continue to provide help as needed to schools and designers as questions arise.

Annual Visual Inspections:

The forms for the Annual Visual Inspection are available on our web site at: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/BldgCondSurv.htm

It is an Excel form with an instruction sheet. These inspections are a visual re-inspection of the components of the building condition survey. The intent is to provide or update changes since the previous year when the building condition survey was completed.

We expect that most school districts have been waiting for this to be available since the due date for it to be sent to SED is nearly upon us. The inspection must be performed by a team consisting of the director of facilities, a code enforcement official, and a member of the health and safety committee as prescribed in Section 155.4(b)(2)(iii). Copies of inspection reports must be submitted to the Office of Facilities Planning by January 15, 2002. Please consult the Commissioner’s Regulations in section 155.4(b)(2) for additional information.

Buckman Heights Elementary School:

Greece Central School District gave us permission to place a Power Point presentation of the damage from an arson fire at their Buckman Heights Elementary School on our web site. It was prepared by Dawn Elliot who is an Environmental Health Specialist for the Monroe #1 BOCES.

This presentation was presented by Don Mellema, of Greece CSD, at the Monroe #1 BOCES Health and Safety meeting on August 21^st and AESHP on November 8^th. Don is planning to make future presentations for various groups including the Superintendents of Buildings and Grounds Association. If you are interested in viewing it, here is a hyperlink to it: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/FireSafety.htm

Here is visual proof why Facilities Planning is always looking for fire-ratings, fire-stopping, closers on doors and for those terrible wood blocks to be removed from fire-rated doors. This presentation clearly shows the damage from the smoke and fire. This fire took place while the building was unoccupied. Of significance is the damage and spread of the smoke where a fire-rated door was held open by a block of wood, compared to when a fire rated door was latched closed adjacent to the fire.

At the Codes Council meeting of last Thursday, November 8^th, the Council did not approve the "enhanced" version of the International Building Code (IBC) as submitted for public comment in the "rule making" process. After reviewing the public comments, the Council has requested that some issues be re-addressed and that changes be submitted for a new public comment period.

This means two things. First, obviously the New York "enhanced" IBC will be delayed in it’s implementation. The Department of State Codes Division said they are hoping for an implementation date in July or August of 2002. The changes that are being made will need to go through the public comment period again and the Codes Council would then decide if the process moves toward its final stages.

The second item, not as obvious, is that the version of "enhancements" provided by the Department of State earlier this year, is not the final version. Anyone who wishes to have a copy of the proposed "rule text" changes could contact the Department of State Codes Division at (518) 474-4073.

The Codes Council is considering a 180-day grace period for implementation of the new IBC. There is also discussion that this may be extended to one year. This allows designers and owners 180 days (or possibly one year) to bring their designs into compliance with the IBC once the implementation date is decided on.

There is an index of all the Newsletters on our web site. It includes all the subjects that have been provided over the past 1½ years. It is updated each time a new Newsletter is sent out. Here’s the hyperlink: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/NewsLetters.htm.

If you would like to have this Update sent directly to you by e-mail, please send your e-mail address to Joe Levy at jlevy@mail.nysed.gov