Deterioration of a section of the Shawano County Library roof will necessitate more repairs for the beleaguered building.
Steve Dreher, manager of the county maintenance department, told the public property committee on June 13, a section of the roof is rotting from the inside, and the entire roof dates back to the 1990s. The issue was first noticed when the county highway department worked to correct building foundation issues in spring. Those repairs cost about several thousand dollars.
Dreher said one company, Allen Bontrager Carpentry in Bonduel, provided estimates on various fixes.
First, a patchwork fix of the area in question would cost about $11,600. A completely new shingle roof would cost $60,300, and a new steel roof would be $81,000.
He suggested federal ARPA money could be used but noted the use of those funds is already being requested for other projects.
Dreher also posed the question of the long-term plans for the building.
Supervisor Randy Young asked if it was worth it to fix, or with a new roof, would the county get its money back on the investment if it sells the building in five or 10 years.
“You’ve got multiple issues at the library — the mechanical system, yes, we replaced the boilers, but the air handling systems, the ducts haven’t been cleaned in years, the air conditioning system, the windows are not the best, you’ve got asbestos mastic in the building, and the air handler is … 1990s sometime,” Dreher said. “If the county is going to retain that facility, you’re looking at some substantial investment in to seven digits.”
Administrative Coordinator Jim Davel recommended the patchwork fix. He suggested waiting to see the final costs for the jail controllers project, and then see how much ARPA funds remain for the roof or other projects.
The jail controllers work was first estimated to be around $500,000, but actual quotes for the project were closer to $1.5 million.
“I do think we have to do something there,” Davel said about the library roof. “Until things flush out with the jail project in terms of the funding, the executive committee is going to have to see what those numbers come in on and the final numbers of where we’re at with ARPA in terms of how it’s funded. I would not, this stage, go beyond the small patchwork.”
Supervisor Rick Giese said a steel roof is a good investment for the county, but Dreher cautioned him and the others about what tearing off the existing roof could reveal.
“It’s just like any roof job on an older building,” he said. “Once you start getting into it, that’s when you uncover things.”
Dreher agreed with Davel and suggested the Band-Aid repairs for now, with a few thousand more added in for contingencies, maybe $15,000 maximum.
“Would you do this to your house at home? No. You’d put the money into it,” Giese said. “We’ve already put the money into the ground (foundation work). We’re not going to tear this building down. Either way, we’re going to do something with this building.”
Supervisor Tom Kautza suggested the committee rank the three choices and send them to the executive committee to decide based on available ARPA funds. He said a two-thirds vote of the county board is needed to use general fund dollars.
Davel said that in addition to the jail controllers project, there are ARPA fund requests for two items from the sheriff’s department, one from the clerk of courts, the county parks and possible from human services.
“Well, I sure hope a leaking roof would go to the top of the list,” Giese said.
“Let’s just do it now then,” Young added. “If we do it now, and then we’re $50,000 short in ARPA on the jail thing, we would have been $50,000 short on the roof. Just do the roof, and if we’re short on ARPA, then we’ll have to get money from somewhere else.”
Kautza reiterated his suggestion to rank the three possibilities and let the Executive Committee decide.
“Why are we doing 1, 2 and 3?” Giese asked. “Is this not public property? Can we not decide what we would like done to the building?”
He then immediately made a motion to install the steel roof. It was seconded by Supervisor Steve Natzke and approved by the committee.
Members then listened to an information item about new siding for one of the buildings on the human services campus on Anderson Avenue.
Dreher said the Capital Improvement Projects Committee entertained a suggestion in 2023 about removing the fake log siding and retaining the building for about $65,000. That would have a lifespan of about four to six years.
This year, Dreher received and estimate from Freedom Carpentry in Shawano to reside the entire building at a cost of $109,500.
“I will caution all of you on all of these things that we’re putting out there,” he said. “Anything over $25,000 by statute will be bid out. These are exactly what they’re saying – estimates. They’re not hard bids. All of these will have to be bid out, but this is a way to get an idea of what to appropriate, so when you go out for bids, you’ve got a better idea of where you stand.”
His comments were geared toward the DHS siding and the library roof costs.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
