POLAND – With construction of the combined School Union 29 administrative office and Poland bus dispatch center due for completion in about a month, the town’s fire chief has noticed a problem.

The public building needs a fire alarm system, according to Poland Fire and Rescue Chief Willie Rice.

Poland’s Board of Selectmen agreed Tuesday that an alarm system should be installed but rejected the change order request by project contractor R & R Construction Inc. of Lewiston for $18,850.

In a 5-0 vote, selectmen opposed a motion to accept the bid and deferred to fellow member David Corcoran’s contracting experience. Corcoran suggested that the town should put the alarm system out for bid after construction is complete and the town takes occupancy of the building.

“I’m a bit nervous about change orders,” said Corcoran. “My concern is that we have a legitimate bid. I only see one number here. It’s not a question of need.”

Rice recently visited the building site at Route 26 and Aggregate Road and informed selectmen Tuesday that the school union office, as well as the town’s public works garage, should have alarm systems. In addition, the office building lacks windows large enough for evacuation in the event of a fire or smoke emergency, Rice said.

“I’ve been in awful lot of buildings over the years,” said Rice. “And I’ve seen the impact of these things.”

Besides the potential for saving lives, the fire alarm system would also protect the town’s financial interests, said Rice, who noted that he lives and pays taxes in Poland. Rice suggested that the best time to put in a system would be before the project is completed.

“I’m amazed that it wasn’t included in the first place,” said Selectman Steve Robinson. “How can you have a public building without smoke and fire alarms when a residential home has to have one?”

The current contractor’s change order request included a four-zone fire alarm panel, a battery backup power supply, 24 smoke detectors, and several other alarm devices for the office and bus dispatch building. The request factored in similar alarm devices, but with only 10 smoke detectors for the new public works garage.

“I can go in and tell you that you need 20 of this and 40 of that,” said Selectman Bud Jordan. “This should have all been decided beforehand. I would think that before you put this out for bid, you’ve got to know what you want in there.”

Designs for the building omitted an alarm system because current codes don’t require one, said Code Enforcement Officer Art Dunlap. The state fire marshal’s office also signed off on the building plans, said Town Manager Richard Chick. Project engineer Mark Gray was not at Tuesday’s meeting, but relayed information through Chick after a telephone call during the meeting.

The office building is the product of an interlocal agreement among Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls to provide office space for the superintendent and school union staff. Part of the building will be used exclusively by the town of Poland for its bus operations.

The three school committees agreed to pay a total of $250,000 for their share of the building, while the town of Poland budgeted $100,000 for the bus dispatch portion.

However, a higher-than-budgeted construction bid and a better understanding of their legal agreement has since caused the three school committees to reconsider their financing formula.

In the meantime, construction has continued and is scheduled for completion around the first of February, said Chick. School administrative staff plan to move into the building during the school vacation in the third week of February.