Salem Interim City Manager Annette Sola told the city council Monday night the roof caved in during her first day on the job. Literally.
Sola says when staff came in the day after her appointment on January 23rd following a night of heavy rain they found water on the floor of the break room and when they opened the closet door they could see daylight as the roof had caved in.
She told the city council the problem is isolated to a small single-story addition to the main city hall building.
“The AC unit sitting there and the condensation drain not being properly installed did not help. So everything led to it. When it rains, because it’s flat back there, the water doesn’t drain well so there is that issue as well.”
In addition to the structural damage, Sola says mold has been found inside the walls, cabinets, and flooring. The city council approved spending $9,000 for mold abatement to get the project going. Sola will then bring back bids for correcting the structural problem at the next meeting.
“It will be all new like the new rafter system that holds that roof up there will be new wood put in, new insulation, roofing, the tuckpointing around the sides to attach the new roofing too, they will lift those units up, and build metals structures instead of wood to put that AC back down on and hopefully fix the drain in that unit as well.”
Sola says new flooring and cabinets will have to be installed in the break room. She estimated the cost at $60,000. Sola reports the city’s insurance company is expected to reject the claim because this is a maintenance issue.
Finance Director Keli Roth says because of higher interest rates on the city’s investments they have earned about $60,000 more than anticipated this year that can be used towards the project.
Meanwhile, Sola says the roof on the main three-story city hall building also has leak problems that need to be addressed. She reports most of the issue is around skylights that can be covered up as the area where they are located is only used for storage.
Sola says the rest of her first two weeks on the job has gone much smoother. She reports all the department heads have jumped in to help and they are in full swing into preparation of the city’s budget for the fiscal year that begins May 1st.
