Decisions

 

On November 13 there was a lengthy meeting with Aoraki, TBIG and others of the team to discuss the problem of asbestos.

As everyone knows, we were hoping that encapsulating ceilings that have been plastered with asbestos-containing material would do the trick, bringing the costs 'way down.  Unfortunately, the test in 6C proved that this was not possible.

As Martin and the Aoraki team described, the drilling to get the blockwork out, even though it was minor compared to the amount of drilling that will go on when the project gets underway, disturbed the plaster.  Dust and lumps fell down in both 6C and 5C, the apartment right below.  If this happened during the project, Worksafe would have to be called, and the project closed down until the asbestos was taken away, and other areas had been cleared.

It was suggested that the ceilings could be encapsulated and then covered with gib, but this was only marginally cheaper than complete removal. So asbestos removal is the best option. I must stress that apartments where the ceiling is already cleared and covered with gib will not have their ceilings touched.  And ceilings that have asbestos-containing plaster scraped away will be covered with gib and painted, to create a clean and goodlooking look.

The effect on our budget was not going to be minor. Our finance chair, Ken Geard, crunched figures and presented them at a special Board meeting in the weekend. It was also pointed out that asbestos removal does have advantages -- it means that there won't have to be constant asbestos checking.  Removal increases the resale value. And, in effect, it future-proofs the building.

And he worked the miracle. Doing the whole job adds up to only a little more than the original estimate in July -- an average of about $5000 per shareholder. So when the motion was put to take the third option, and remove all exposed ACM-containing plaster from all ceilings, the Board voted in favour.