CORNWALL, Ontario – Some city councillors are demanding answers after yet another municipal roof has sprung a leak.
The roof at the Cornwall Civic Complex began leaking on the weekend, the latest in a long line of buildings belonging to the city including the land ambulance headquarters, the Benson Centre, the aquatic centre and even the Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge where a leaky roof has caused problems.
What makes things worse at the complex is that in 2004 some $460,000 was taken out of the Progress Fund interest to cover repair costs to the roof. Two years later another $464,000 was removed from the interest account to replace the roof.
Now 10 years later its leaking again and councillors want to know why – and how much it’s going to cost this time around.
“I want city council to go on a tour of our buildings,” said Coun. Andre Rivette, who penned a letter to fellow councillors and municipal managers demanding answers. “The people who are in charge of these buildings need to deal with these issues.”
If that wasn’t enough, city hall is embroiled in litigation involving other roof problems in the city. Councillors have been meeting behind closed doors to receive updates on the legal issues for some time.
“You’ve got to solve these problems before they get worse,” said Rivette.
But just what the problem is, is still anyone’s guess.
Coun. Justin Towndale was asked if these leaking roofs boil down to poor workmanship, improper upkeep, a combination of both – or neither.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “It was 10 years ago that we replaced the complex roof. It doesn’t make sense to me that it would be leaking again.
“It’s a serious issue – what happened?”
It’s unclear what caused the civic complex roof to leak, although with the recent spate of mild temperatures the water intrusion can presumably be attributed to snow/ice melt.
Work is supposed to begin on the replacement of the roof at the Cornwall Public Library, at a cost of more than $200,000. That roof has been slated for repair/replacement for some time.
