Rec center opens in time for camp
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO
Camp director Kyle Stephenson (in the doorway) leads campers in a game Tuesday, the first day of the popular program. The summer camp was threatened due to flooding and mold problems at the Jamesport Community Center.
The Jamesport Community Center reopened last Monday — ahead of schedule — after being closed since mid-April when flooding and mold problems from the big late March storm forced its closure.
Officials were hoping to have the building open by Tuesday to coincide with the start of a popular summer camp program, which is attended by 80 children, but it actually opened last Monday to accommodate three youngsters who had enrolled in a hip hop dance class, said Ray Coyne, the town’s recreation supervisor.
“It was only three kids, so we opened it early for them,” he said.
The summer camp opened on Tuesday, as planned, but the rest of the center’s programs won’t begin until next week because the Jamesport Fire Department carnival is being held this week on land adjacent to the center, Mr. Coyne said.
The Town Board awarded the $31,500 mold remediation contract to Duraclean of Middle Island on an emergency basis, after no bids for the job were received a week earlier. Supervisor Sean Walter had wanted to award the contract as an emergency, which means no official bidding process is required, earlier but decided to seek bids following a controversy over the town’s decision to award another mold remediation project at Town Hall on an emergency basis.
All of the programs will be up and running at the Jamesport center next week, Mr. Coyne said.
“It’s all mold-free and the air quality is fine,” he said.
The Jamesport project did end up costing $5,000 more than originally expected because an additional bathroom was discovered downstairs, town officials said.
