PARIS – Town Manager Sharon Jackson is exploring liability questions after a building owner recently discovered that his sewage pipe may have been damaged during the construction of the fire station three years ago.
Jackson told selectmen Monday night that the building’s owner, Todd Truman, recently reported to her that there have been ongoing sewage problems at his building since last year. He leases the space next to the fire station on Western Avenue to Personal Best, a fitness gym that moved into the previously unoccupied space July 2004, Jackson explained.
“They have had backup problems since they went in there,” Jackson said.
All other causes for the problem were explored and eliminated, Jackson said. In October, Truman ran a camera through the sewer line and saw that the pipe underneath the fire station parking lot had been crushed.
In 2002, the firm overseeing the fire station project, Oest Associates Inc., hired a specialty subcontractor called Obert Construction to install two storm drains.
According to Jackson’s findings, Obert Construction appears to have run a connecting pipe through the sewage line that is now broken – a conclusion that was confirmed by Bruce Obert, of Obert Construction, who viewed the site last Thursday.
Another sewer pipe in an area where Obert Construction did not excavate is also broken, Jackson said.
A representative of Oest Associates, Richard McSherry, told Jackson he recalled that the next-door building, which was not owned by Truman when the fire station was being built, was in bad shape and being used for storage.
Jackson said she could not confirm the building’s prior owner.
Oest Associates will be looking for archived reports on the project, which were also submitted to the town, Jackson told the board.
Meanwhile, Truman has replaced the pipes, and Jackson said she will continue researching the matter.
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