A proposal was introduced at the November mayor and city council meeting to replace the connected roofs of both City office buildings and rehabilitate or replace the cupola on the former fire house building.
The project was originally discussed years ago, with an estimated cost of approximately $150,000, based on quotes to replace the roofs only. These quotes were made after leaks were already present. However, the City failed to plan any funding at that time so nothing was done. Eventually, a rough estimate for roof repairs, including the cupola, was added to the City’s Capital Improvement Plan.
This past August, more leaks were found near the cupola and where the two buildings joined, causing interior damage. This connection between the two buildings has been problematic for years and has caused most of the damage. The work proposed will hopefully improve this connection at the roof level.
The new estimated cost of $246,841 includes masonry work, replacing several windowsills on the second floor, repairing or replacing and painting exterior trim in the facia and soffit areas, new down spouting and, of course, replacing the roofs themselves. While the City could opt to only do the roof repairs, completing the additional exterior repairs at the same time will greatly reduce overall costs associated with mobilization, scaffolding and equipment rentals that would be incurred if they pursued the "non-roof" related repairs at a later date.
Following these recent leaks, the City bumped up the priority of the project. They also entered into an agreement with the Maryland Department of General Services, which allowed staff to schedule meetings with a participating contractor (in this case Dynamic General Contracting) through the Gordian Group Inc., who will serve as project manager for the roof repairs instead of going through the long bid process.
One item that was overlooked when initially planning for the project was the expense related to removal and replacement of the outdoor HVAC units above the Planning & Zoning office. Replacing the roof here would require lifting the HVAC units up, which is challenging and could damage the six units, making the estimated cost of this alone $30,000.
Even with assurances that the City does have the ability to fund the project without adverse impact, the additional cost will need to be added into the midyear budget amendment. Mayor Pro-Tem James McCarron said he was shocked at the high price tag and concerned that the proposal wasn’t specific enough in certain areas. "For example, what are the cupola repairs?" he asked, as the proposal doesn't specifically list them.
According to Wieprecht, temporary repairs to the connection between the two buildings have been done by Dynamic General Contracting to "patch them along." However, nothing has been done to the leak in the cupola. Dynamic has inspected the cupola but was unable to determine how much work it needs without removing layers of roofing. These repairs could, in theory, buy the City time to gather more bids, but there is no guarantee.
With the hope that the repairs would buy them time, Councilman Christopher Tillman asked for additional bids and for a more formal process to search for a local contractor. "With an expenditure of this much money and the fact that it so quickly and broadly exceeds the funding we thought we had, we should get additional bids," he said. He shared concerns with McCarron that the prices listed were excessive and didn't all make sense.
Councilwoman Diane Foster was not opposed to obtaining additional bids, however, she said, "If we don’t get any [bids] by the first of the year, then we have to move on this." By expediting the process, the City can get the additional bids it needs without risking the roofs leaking more than the patchwork can handle. The Council decided to proceed with this plan after a brief discussion.
