Library roof project on hold

EAST HAMPTON — Town officials have abandoned plans to wrap the library roof in tarpaulins.

The town had proposed swaddling the roof is blue tarps to help contain leaking melt water from winter snows from seeping into the library, and in particular the children’s section. The seepage has been a persistent problem in the 32-year-old building at 105 Main St.

Officials say the fault lies with the original design for the 16,270square-foot building, which also houses the senior center. Because of what town leaders say is a poor air flow in the ceiling of the building, ice dams can — and often do — form on the roof in the winter. As they melt, the water leaks into the roof, according to Town Manager Michael Maniscalco.

“Literally, it rains inside the building,” he told the Town Council this summer.

The town accepted an engineer’s report that forms the basis for a repair project. Some $89,000 had previously been set aside for it. However, a substantial portion of the money needed to complete the work was contained in the general government budget. It took four tries to finally get the $14.9 million budget passed, which took place in the third week of October.

That delay, coupled with the unusually persistent wet fall, pushed back the date for beginning work on the project — so much so it will have to be put off until the spring at least, Maniscalco said Thursday.

“Literally, it rains inside the building,” Town Manager Michael Maniscalco

In the meantime, the town proposed encasing the roof in the blue tarps.

But an engineer who inspected the area at the request of Director of Public Works Dean Michelson concluded that idea was impractical, Maniscalco said. The tarps would likely be torn loose and wind up flapping in the breeze, he explained.

In the interim, Maniscalco said the town would prepare the bid documents so officials could eventually choose a contractor who could start repairing the roof as soon as conditions permitted. That would entail eliminating dormers in the present roof.

During a town council meeting in July, Council Vice Chairman Mark Philhower and a consulting engineer, Matthew W. Brown, agreed on removing the dormers. Doing so would streamline the roof, Philhower said, which, in turn, should improve the chances of eliminating ice dams.

However, Brown said, adding additional insulation to the underside of the roof should prevent ice dams from forming.

File photo East Hampton Public Library

File photo A tongue-in-cheek message is displayed on a sandwich board outside the East Hampton Public Library.