Committee backs $10K transfer for roof repair
The work is to be done at a former fire station that now houses the Volunteer Firemen's Hall and Museum.
A committee of city lawmakers has endorsed transferring $10,000 from a contingency fund to pay for repairing the roof of the former Wiltwyck Fire Station, which houses the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall and Museum.
The Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee approved the budget transfer Wednesday. The move still must be ap- proved by the full council, which next meets In June.
Alderman Douglas Koop noted the council approved the spending last year but the work was never completed. He said a purchase order was not submitted “for whatever reason.”
City Comptroller John Tuey said because the money was not spent, it was just rolled over into Kingston’s fund balance at the end of 2017.
“I don’t think anyone has a problem with this,” Koop, D-Ward 2, said of the budget transfer, which was unanimously approved by the committee.
Bill Knowles, president of the board of directors of the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall and Museum, recently said the city went through the bidding process and chose J&A Roofing of Kingston to perform the repairs at the building at 265 Fair St. He said that since that time, leaks in the roof have gotten worse and “the structure itself is suffering.”
“We were not able to move the Volunteer Firemen’s museum roof project forward before the end of the year, but are doing so now,” Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said in an email last week. “The purchase order has been submitted in the amount of $8,665 for J&A Roofing to complete the roof repair and coating this summer.”
Knowles previously said the city included repair work at the museum as part of its application to use nearly $10 million in state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding. He said the city still is waiting for approval from the state to use $560,000 of that funding to replace the museum’s roof, fix the masonry and replace the windows. In the meantime, the building has to be sealed, Knowles said.