SUNDRE — A nearly $50,000 emergency repair bill for the municipality’s operations building was recently approved by council during a special meeting.
Structural issues with the facility, which houses a shop area as well as office space in the town’s southwest industrial district, was discovered during an assessment of damage caused by a severe storm earlier this summer.
The special meeting, conducted by teleconference, was called on Tuesday, Oct. 12 to discuss the emergent matter. In the absence of outgoing mayor Terry Leslie, then-deputy mayor Richard Warnock chaired the meeting.
Providing a report to council, Chris Albert, director of corporate services, said the building had sustained significant damage on July 2, when large portions of the tin roof were peeled back by powerful winds. Pouring rain subsequently seeped into the facility, causing further interior damage.
“The damage that was done is covered by insurance,” said Albert, adding that the cost to replace the roof and eavestroughs will be borne by the town’s insurer.
“Water did penetrate the building, so it got behind the drywall. That was also covered by insurance,” he added.
But an unexpected surprise was unveiled as the insurance company’s appraiser conducted an assessment of the damage caused by the storm, he said.
“Unfortunately what happened was, when they started peeling back the damaged drywall and drying the building out, they actually discovered pre-existing damage. It appears that water has been penetrating the building for a number of years,” he said, adding insurance does not cover pre-existing damage.
The town was immediately informed about the situation upon the discovery, and due to the extent of the damage, it was recommended that the municipality seek out a structural engineer to determine what needed to be done, he said.
“All of this has taken a bit of time.”
Following an inspection of the facility, an engineer with the municipality’s consulting firm CIMA+ provided a report with information that was sent out as part of a quote process. In the end, the town received two bids that were reviewed based not only on the cost to complete the work but also which contractor could get the repairs finished quickest, he said.
“The final repairs are being held up because of this additional work that has to be done. We’re trying to get this done as soon as possible,” he said, seeking a council motion to approve the quote from Supreme Renovations at a cost not to exceed $49,700 plus GST, with funds being drawn from the general corporate stabilization restricted surplus account.
Seeking clarification, Coun. Cheri Funke said roof repairs on the shop had been done in the not-too-distant past, and wondered whether that work might still be covered by warranty.
“You are correct, we have done various roof repairs to a number of buildings,” said Albert.
“The work that was done to the operations building in terms of roofing, most of it was actually over the shop area, not over the office area is my understanding. This actually wouldn’t be covered under warranty work anyway because it was a wind event,” he said, reiterating that damage caused by the storm is covered by insurance.
“The problem is the existing damage, which based on what we can tell, has been probably since the building was built. So, unfortunately, there’s really not much warranty work that we could look for there,” he said.
Funke followed up to inquire which town department is responsible for taking care of the municipality’s facilities.
“Is there other concern with other facilities that may have damages that we’re not aware of?” she asked.
The community services department is tasked with maintaining facilities, said Albert.
Warnock suggested the issue of more proactively inspecting facilities to avoid further unexpected surprises could perhaps be included on a future agenda for the incoming council to consider.
Coun. Todd Dalke wanted to know more about the two quotes received in terms of costs and timelines.
“Both quotes were fairly close to each other, within a couple hundred dollars. It really came down to timeline,” said Albert, explaining that one contractor said they would try to get the work done as soon as possible, while the other was willing to rearrange their schedule to prioritize the project.
Dalke followed up to ask if there was a guaranteed timeline for when the work would be completed if council proceeded to approve the emergent expense.
“As that’s dependent on this contractor and insurance, no. We do not have a definitive timeline this evening,” said Albert.
In the meantime, Dalke also wanted to know what the department’s staff was currently doing without full access to the damaged operations building.
“We are managing the best that we can,” said Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer.
“Fortunately, most of the people affected are outside workers,” Nelson said, adding some of the staff have been working in other building until they can return to their own space.
Council proceeded to unanimously carry a motion approving the required structural repairs.
