CDA council OKs nearly $100K for emergency roof work

COEUR d’ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene City Council on Tuesday approved emergency spending of nearly $100,000 for a new roof at City Hall.

The money will come from the general fund.

Adam Korytko, city building maintenance superintendent, said water isn’t draining properly from the southwest parapet wall of the roof, which has resulted in ponding. The standing water has damaged that area of roof beyond repairs and with winter coming on, it must be corrected.

“We’re just trying to avoid water coming into the building,” Korytko said.

He said a TPO roofing system over the entire City Hall is the best solution.

TPO, which stands for thermoplastic polyolefin, is a single-ply roofing membrane, produced using a rubber-like thermoplastic. The result is a smooth, rubber-like surface.

The work could be done around mid-November to mid-December.

“This is going to resolve the issue,” Korytko said.

Resident Diana Sheridan questioned the expenditure.

“When we get to the word emergency that usually means to me that someplace along the line regular maintenance didn’t happen,” she said. “Is this something that could have been handled at a less expensive amount from maintenance prior to, as being in the situation we’re in now, spending $95,000 to repair the roof?”

Korytko said they perform maintenance on the roof twice a year.

At the completion of the 2017 City Hall remodel, the existing torch down roof was coated or recoated with an elastomeric coating, which is used to extend the life of an existing roof.

“However, the southwest parapet wall of the roof has drainage issues resulting in ponding. This ponding is due to improper slope/design of the roof crickets and roof drain elevation,” according to a city report.

The standing water has “caused severe failure along the southwest parapet wall,” the report said, and the elastomeric coating has blistered and peeled down to the original roofing material.

“Reapplication of this coating is impossible due to the excessive moisture and ponding,” the report said.

Korytko said the project was originally planned to be budgeted a few years out and they hoped repairs would provide a temporary fix.

City crews put down roofing tar as short-term protection.

“Only after discovering the severity of the damage and the lack of options to make repairs did we decide that a new roofing system should be installed,” the city report said.

According to the report, City Hall has a domed roof with a slight pitch that tapers to the perimeter parapet walls where water is supposed to be routed and drained.

The new TPO roofing system will rebuild the drain routes to get the water to slope and go down the drain correctly.

“It’s a tried and true roofing system for that roof design," Korytko said.

The system comes with a 20-year manufacturer warranty and one-year warranty on labor.

The cost is pegged at $94,727.

The new roof is considered an emergency if, “It is necessary to do emergency work to safeguard life, health, or property.”

The city's Legal Department determined that the circumstances fall within the exception for emergency work to safeguard the city’s property, according to the city report.

Councilman Dan Gookin questioned the emergency expenditure. He asked why the work wasn’t under warranty, where the money was coming from and what could happen if a new roof was not installed.

“Water could get in the building,” Korytko said.

Mayor Jim Hammond said when City Hall was remodeled in 2017 it was determined the roof still had life in it.

“Rather than tearing it up at that time, what we did was we got five more years out of that roof,” he said. “If you can put it off for five years and make due with what you’ve got, it seems to make sense to do so. That’s what I would do with my own home."