WESTFIELD – The Massachusetts School Building Authority has “invited” the city to participate in its accelerated repair program for roof replacement at Munger Hill and Paper Mill elementary schools.
Frank Maher, director of operations, maintenance and food services, said that the roof damage was discovered to the two sister schools following the June tornado which ripped a section of the kindergarten wing of Munger Hill Elementary School.
A local roofing company was hired to make an emergency repair, installing a temporary cover over the section of roof torn off the building during the tornado, until a permanent patch could be installed after the school year ended. The roofers discovered that there was extensive damage to the membrane of the entire roof caused by algae and acid rain, compromising the membrane with pin holes which allowed water to “weep” through the roof.
Maher then hired Tighe & Bond, a Westfield-based engineering consultant, to examine the roofs of both sister schools, which were built at the same time, based upon the identical design. The two roofs are rubber membrane structures that were installed when the two buildings were constructed in 1990 and opened in 1991.
That examination found that the Paper Mill Elementary School roof was also compromised.
“They determined that algae is eating into the rubber, causing pin holes,” Maher said.
The roofs are structurally sound, but the algae is breaking down the membrane and “the resulting pinholes will cause a shower effect, leakage through the entire roof, which will cause further interior damage,” Maher said.
Last fall the School Committee and City Council both approved a statement of interest (SOI) to seek MSBA funding assistance to repair the two elementary school roofs.
Maher said the estimated cost of the repair project is $2.2 million. The MSBA agency will provide 62.74 percent of the project funding. The city will be responsible for $819,710 of the roof replacement effort.
Maher said that he filed an emergency statement of intent following the June 1 tornado, but MSBA action was deferred until the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had completed an inspection and assessment of the tornado-related damage.
The School Committee voted in November to approve that June SOI and referred it to the City Council for a vote at its Nov. 17, 2011 session. Maher said the SOI has to be submitted prior to November 30.
The SOI, approved by the MSBA last week, will require the City Council to appropriate the entire $2.2 million bond because the city cannot bid a project without having the money to fund it in place. The MSBA refunds the city as the money is spent.
Maher said that contract bids for two other school roof repair projects completed last summer at the Southampton Road and Highland elementary school came in well below the projected cost.
The MSBA notified the city last week that it has been “invited” to participate in the accelerated repair program established to repair or replace roofs, windows and/or boilers in school that are otherwise structurally, functionally and educational sound.
The goal of that program is to improve learning environments for children and teachers, reduce energy use and generate cost savings for districts.
Maher said the roof repair project will offer the city an opportunity to install much more efficient insulation under the membrane.
“Energy conservation and improve efficiency are required components of the program,” Maher said.
State Treasurer Steven Grossman, who serves as the MSBA chairman by virtue of office, said in a statement released with the award notification that the program “allows us to make much-needed repairs that can greatly extend a school’s working life. Besides improving the learning environment for our children, accelerated repairs also make our schools more energy-efficient and generate significant cost savings.”
