EMS ‘home’ in home stretch
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Now that the nuisance snow is gone, the new EMS facility work has shifted into high gear.
Electricity and water have been hooked up to the 1,200 square foot manufactured building. This week a small concrete pad was poured for the ramp. And that was just in time for the installation of the custom T-shaped ramp and landing March 27.
And that will be in time for the arrival for the furniture for the EMS staff’s home away from home around the first week of April. It’s easier to bring furniture in using a ramp.
Sonny Salvatore, the HUD-certified contractor of Nutts Construction of Ashford, is handling the project and installed the concrete pad that supports the end of the ramp. Town Administrator Elaine Sistare said that the town will join the end of the pad to the concrete of the front parking lot when asphalt is available. The ramp is made of aluminum so it won’t rust.
March 27 the ramp was installed by Lifeway Mobility of Hartford. They have an office in Danielson as well, which does only elevators. The custom ramp goes from the parking lot to a “bridge” type landing. One end goes into the new facility and the other end goes into the old EMS facility, through a door that will be installed. That way personnel can go from their new facility over to the old one where the trucks and equipment will continue to reside.
The aluminum ramp was installed at the proper pitch, 1” per foot. It took about two hours to install.
Salvatore said he will be installing the insulated skirt around the bottom of the facility. The water line, which comes up from the ground near the entry door on the fire department side, will have heat tape wrapped around it and the insulated skirt will also alleviate any water line freezing problems. A short line of cinder blocks under part of the new building will help channel water to drain without problem.
The building contains three bedrooms, a kitchen area, a common area and two shower areas. It measures 27 feet wide and 44 feet long. One of the bedrooms will serve as an office. There would be nice clean modern space for sleeping, showers, cooking, a conference space and bathrooms.
The town used about $88,000 in ARPA funds for furniture, fixtures and a new generator, plus $260,000 in Local Capital Improvement Program funding. Recently Walmart covered a $500 shopping trip for Tammy Szpyrka, chief of service for EMS, to get all the supplies that will help make the facility a home including dishes, pots and pans, flatware, towels, shower curtains, small appliances, cleaning supplies and more. Mayor Barney Seney, who asked for Walmart’s help, kicked in another $100 to the cause and even helped with the shopping.
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Far left: Getting the pitch just right. Near left: The ramp, finished. Below: The water line will be wrapped in heat tape and an insulated skirt will be installed around the whole building. More photos Wed. night on our FB page.
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