MEXICO — Several town buildings have been leaking because of an accumulation of slush on their roofs, Town Manager John Madigan told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.
Madigan said that he had sent some town employees onto the roof of the Town Office to seal in the seams to prevent further leaking, but “whenever we get more snow, and it thaws out, we get slush — and when we get slush, it starts leaking.
“It doesn’t leak when it rains, and it doesn’t leak when it snows,” Madigan said. “There are a few places throughout the Town Office where it’s leaking, including the end of the hall in front of my office. It used to leak bad in other places, but we filled in some of the seams on the roof.”
He added, “In the last year, the superintendent’s building had a leak, and the Recreation Center had leaks to the point where we had to call in the insurance company to look at damages to the gym floor.”
Madigan said the town garage has been leaking for a while, and that the town has been setting aside money for the past three years to fix it.
“We haven’t done anything with the town buildings for four years because we’ve been trying to put aside enough money to deal with the garage roof,” Madigan told the selectmen. “Right now, in our town building and renovation fund, we have $53,615, plus another $15,000 that we’re budgeting this year. All together, that’s $68,615 toward any projects related to town buildings.”
Madigan suggested that the selectmen find an engineer, “draw up some specs and then we’ll put it out there into the contractor world.”
Selectman Albert Aniel asked Madigan if the town could use tarps on the roof of the Town Office to prevent further damage.
“I don’t think there’s really anything to anchor them to,” Madigan replied. “At least not without putting another hole in the roof.”
Resident Randy Canwell said the drain pipes in the building might be cracked and causing the leaks.
“The leaks aren’t anywhere near the drain pipes,” Madigan said. “It must be coming in through the seams. The water isn’t necessarily puddling, but you can see the stains in the ceiling tiles. I’ve had to replace some of the ceiling tiles a few times, and luckily, I haven’t seen any sign of mold.”
Selectman Reggie Arsenault suggested that the town seal the seams on the roof with “some type of hot tar.”
Aniel agreed with Madigan that it “makes sense to look at some of these problematic buildings and see if there are any alternatives to fixing them.”
Madigan said the town should start with the garage and then figure out which buildings to focus on afterward.
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