Urbandale Library Trustees Balk at Costly Roof Fix

Trustees were skeptical Tuesday night about spending $25,00 to $50,000 to make structural repairs recommended to fix the library's leaking roof.

"I definitely want to get it fixed for the long-term," Trustee Kris Winter said. "But on a building that's 10 years old, we now have to spend a nice chunk of change."

Library Director Julie Wells invited a roofing and a carpeting expert to discuss with the Library Board of Trustees the cost of repairing the roof and replacing the building's 11-year-old carpeting.

Heavy snows during the winter of 2009-2010 slid down the metal roof, causing damage to the roof, David Reese of Wood Roofing said.

The greatest damage is on the south end of the building, around a cupola that houses a children's story-time space. Leaks in that area stem from a hole in the roof near where the sloped roof slants down to the cupola. 

But Reese said because of some problems during construction of the library, the only way to make the repairs is to take that part of the roof off, take the wall structure apart, reconstruct it and then put a new roof on that part of the building.

He said the problem is that normally when buildings are constructed, the roof is put on first and the walls are then built up to the roof. But the roofing company hired was from out of town and apparently came back to finish the roof after the walls to the cupola already were built. The result is a gap between the wall and the roof.

He provided a written estimate of the costs from Weitz Corporation, which was the original general contractor on the library.

Julie Kroll, chairwoman of the board, said the library would have to take bids on a project of that size. She said the estimate was more than $25,000 and the board believed the project could cost $25,000 to $50,000.

In addition to the leaks, the library's carpeting needs to be replaced.
The problem is that library only has $100,000 for such projects in this budget year, Wells said.

Replacing the carpeting would cost $100,000 said Brian Poindexter of Poindexter Flooring.

"I would honestly say you have a year left on the carpet," he said, adding that he is surprised that someone hasn't already tripped on rips in the carpet.

"I think the (price of) carpet is going to go up and we need the carpet," said Trustee Tom Graves, who suggested that the board consider making less expensive roof repairs without the structural work to rebuild the interior wall.

Graves and other trustees asked Reece if installing "snow fence" devices on the south end of the roof and fixing the hole in the roof would be satisfactory.

"You could put up the snow fence but just know that it's not rectifying the structural problem that caused the damage," he said. He noted that would only cost about $3,000.

The board directed Wells to consult with City Engineer Dave McKay about whether it should get other opinions on solving the problem of the leaky roof.