By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK– A leaky roof covering the Police Department will be repaired after a council vote Sept. 27.
A bid was awarded to Dearborn-based Fisher Roofing Company Inc. for $5,320 to repair that portion of the roof of the City Hall building.
The roof, which was originally installed by Fischer, has caused extensive water damage to the building and left a third of the space unusable, Interim Police Chief James Wilkewitz said. Where space is usable, buckets have been placed to catch leaks. The roof was last repaired by Fisher 15 years ago.
“Failure to have it repaired prior to winter may result in a catastrophic failure,” he said.
The entire roof, which has passed its warranty period, probably needs to be replaced, Wilkewitz said after a conversationwith the company, but the cash-strapped city cannot afford the repairs. The money for the police portion comes from federal drug forfeiture funds that can only be used for the Police Department.
“This is something we need to do because we’re not in a position to move out of the police building, ” City Administrator John Zech said. “The building needs a new roof completely. It’s patch jobs on top of patch jobs, but under the circumstances, we’re going to have to live with that.”
Zech also said some functions of the police department could be relocated from the building, but to move inmate holding cells, they would have to bring the building up to 2011 building codes.
“There would be far and away more building issues that would have to be dealt with,” Zech said.
The bid was not subject the the city’s bid process, as Fisher originally installed the roof and the bid was an “urgent” need.