The Benson Park Committee met on April 18 to discuss the report on detailed mold and lead inspection report from March 28 done by American Environmental Testing Services of New England regarding the state of Hudson’s old train station.
“I have gone through them at a very high level and have spoken to the gentleman who actually did the report, and the only good news out of all of this is in the train station, that part of the building that was the freight room with the big sliding door, is no lead whatsoever in there,” said Committee Chair, Jack Madden. “But we’ve got a lot of lead in rest of building. All of the paneling that is over the original plastered wall, that will all have to be taken out and disposed of.”
Due to health concerns, such a removal cannot be done by volunteers. The town will need to hire a certified abatement firm.
“Did the inspector say there was already lead in there?” asked Committee member, Mike Catanzaro.
The Chair confirmed extensive lead and mold in the building to the point where he was advised not to enter. Anyone doing work will need to have a respirator.
“It’s not quite as bad on the moisture side of the house as the lead side, but there’s also some remediation require there,” said Madden. “The inspector provided a list of the lead abatement performance contractors, and there’s also some of them who does mold as well. He said it’s a good idea to have someone who does both.”
Madden expressed an interest in going with one of the listed contractors and signed off on the $2,475 invoice for the inspector. This was around what the Committee was expecting and the fee will come out of the Benson Park Capital Reserve Fund. It was unclear what the final cost would be to make the building safe to enter.
“This is getting to the point where we’re going to have to start ripping stuff off the walls,” said Madden, referring to the unavoidable reconstruction that will need to happen at the train station. “Some stuff will eventually have to be redone, the old lath and plaster is full of lead and I don’t know if we’ll have to take it off to put new lath and plaster on it.”
With the extent of wall removal needed to make the building safe, Madden wanted to invite a representative from the Department of Historic Resources for a visit to the train station.
Catanzaro presented seven completed Adopt-a-Spot signs, which were completed with the help of Vice Chair, Judy Brouillette, her sister, and volunteers from the VFW.
“I think the signs look great! They did a wonderful job, we greatly appreciate them,” said Secretary, Sarah Petkiewicz.
The Committee hoped to get more people interested in the Adopt-a-Spot program in the coming months.
The Benson Park Committee is scheduled to meet again on Thursday, May 16, at 7 p.m. in the Hudson Cable Access Center
