The Port Orchard Library will have a new roof by the end of the year.
The Port Orchard City Council Tuesday evening unanimously approved a library roof replacement bid for an amount with a limit of $150,000.
The contract was granted to FPH Construction, Inc, to replace the library’s dilapidated flat roof with a pitched, metal roof.
Word that a new roof was on the way was great news for library workers.
“We’re very excited,” said Port Orchard Library Branch Manager Kathleen Wilson. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while.”
The city, which owns the building operated by Kitsap Regional Library, set aside $120,000 in real estate excise tax money last year to pay for the new roof. Two construction companies bid on the roof construction. The lowest final bid came to $134,921, $12,000 more than originally slotted by the city for a new library roof.
The council decided to approve up to $150,000 for a pitched roof in lieu of replacing the roof with another flat roof at a lower cost. Flat roofs have a 20 year life span and are vulnerable to leaks during heavy snow and ice storms, said Port Orchard Public Works Director Mark Dorsey.
“In 1996 or ‘97 we had a storm and every flat roof in the area went down,” he said.
Council members decided that a more expensive pitched roof with a longer lifespan was the way to go, especially since a new building for the Port Orchard Library seemed far off given the tough economic times.
“I recommend we finally do something for that library and make the doggone thing look good,” said council member Jim Colebank.
The library’s current roof has leaked for years, with frequent leaks in the men’s restroom. In January, a winter storm caused drains on the flat roof to back up and buckets of water poured into the library.
The library’s roof was slated to be replaced last year, but bids for the work came in at $180,000, $60,000 higher than the allotted funds. Council member John Clausen acknowledged that the $150,000, which includes the cost of the roof and money for cost overruns, was still more than the city wanted to spend for a library roof. But, he said, with the building not going anywhere, a new roof was important to maintain vibrancy of the downtown library.
“I think it’s an investment,” Clausen said.
