The Oconto Falls City Council will seek new bids to re-roof the city library, after receiving proposals $40,000 higher than what the city planned to spend. The city is considering either a shingled or steel roof to replace the 9,600-square-foot building’s original roof installed in 1992.
According to Alderman Kevin Rusch, bids of $91,000 to $93,000 were submitted for a metal roof; $50,000 was approved in the 2015 budget. Rusch said the city could take the difference from its fund balance to complete the project before winter, or delay the project a year and take any amount over the $50,000 from the 2016 budget.
“The library will survive the winter, from what I’m told,” he said. “We want to get it done, most definitely. I want to see it done this year if at all possible.”
Library Director Joan Denis, speaking to the Times Herald after the council meeting, said it’s possible to wait until 2016.
“We’ve waited this long,” she said.
However, there are signs the roof is in need of replacement.
A drippy ceiling in three of the past four winters damaged the control board of the furnace, requiring its replacement each year, she said. The city paid $2,749 for furnace repairs due to the leakage caused by ice dams on the roof.
“I think I’ve gotten the street department convinced they need to go up there and keep the ice off, but I also tape a piece of plastic over that part of the furnace,” Denis said.
She said she wasn’t aware of leaks anywhere else, although cracks in the pillars and damage to the wooden soffit at the library’s Main Street entrance could be signs of more water damage. The city plans to replace the soffit when it replaces the roof.
Landscape work at the front of the building and development of the back yard will wait until the roof is finished, Denis said.
The consensus of the council was to rewrite the specifications and advertise the project a second time in local publications and a wider range of industry publications.
Alderman Mathew McDermid recommended the city purchase materials directly from manufacturers to save on sales tax and seek bids exclusively for labor. He said once the scope of the project is decided, manufacturers might be willing to donate some of the materials.
Alderman Don Osborne said community members might also wish to donate to the cause and recommended selling commemorative bricks or displaying plaques to recognize people who give to the roof project. He used as an example the $100,000 raised for the Oconto Falls Senior Center.
“It’s worked for a lot of organizations; it would work for the library, also,” he said.
Denis said finding someone to manage a $90,000 roof campaign could prove difficult. The Friends of the Library is an active but small group that holds two fundraisers a year: the Trash to Treasure auction and a book sale.
