Library Damaged By Rain; Rainy Day Fund Will Fix It
August 9, 2016 at 4:51 p.m.
Library Damaged By Rain; Rainy Day Fund Will Fix It
By David [email protected]
Monday afternoon, the WCPL Board of Trustees voted for money from the rainy day fund to be used to make those repairs.
Heavy rain spanning two days in June backed up and caused a crack in a wall, allowing water into the building and into the technical services and cataloging work room.
The Flood Doctor had to be called in to professionally dry and purify the room.
Library Director Ann Zydek first reported about the rain damage to the board at its July meeting.
According to Maintenance Director Bruce Hively’s written report, SKRM, a Warsaw architecture firm, had D&C Construction excavate along the east wall for a better view of problem. The older portion of the building did have water proofing, but it had pulled away from the building and allowed water to get in behind the material and into the building.
SKRM directed D&C to clean the foundation wall and reseal with waterproofing. The waterproofing has been completed, and Hively’s report states they are working on finding a permanent solution to get the water away from the building. In the meantime, D&C put a pump in the excavated area to remove any water from rainfall. There’s since been no water coming into the building.
Zydek told the board on Monday, “In my report I tried to point out what progress we’ve made toward fixing what happened in our catalog room. If you noticed the lawn is looking a little bit burnt, they had to take a part of the connection to the irrigation system so today they were trying to do a little bit (of watering) with the hose.”
She said the difference between when the irrigation system is working and when it’s not is apparent.
Monday was when the library was supposed to have received some quotes to fix the problem, but Assistant Director Joni Brookins said Hively had not received those quotes as of the board meeting from the architect or the construction companies.
At the end of last week, Zydek reported, Hively had a chance to speak to the construction companies and there were two possibilities to fix the problem.
“One would be just trying to fix what’s right outside of that room, the other would be trying to say, ‘OK, what we see is that there’s no kind of drainage along that wall on the north side up to the entrance and going up past down to closer where it ends over there by Detroit Street.’ The other solution would be, let’s try to add something that comes in and goes to the sump pump we just added last fall outside of that room,” she said.
Zydek said at this point, the rainy day fund needs to be used for one of those solutions.
Zydek said they were hoping that it would be around $25,000, but it might be $5,000 to $10,000 more than that now.
“We were hoping it would stay about $25,000, but if we need to do something further because of what we have discovered there, we just need to see what those quotes are going to be,” she said.
Because of the damage to the cataloging room, Zydek said the library had an emergency book sale to move some of the material. A total of $774.55 was raised. Cataloging work is currently being done in the IT room temporarily.
Zydek requested the board approve a motion supporting the use of some of the rainy day money. She said some projects may have to be put aside in order to address the rain damage. The board approved such a motion.
Board member Rick Paczkowski asked Zydek if she had any problems sending proposals for the repairs to the board. “Because we’re talking a major outlay of cash,” he said, and the board should be made aware of what’s going on and how much it may cost.
Paczkowski said the board may want to take a look at it and determine whether it might be a good idea to put a little extra into it to get it right the first time and to keep the building in good condition for many years to come.
Zydek said they might want to move on the work before the next board meeting in September.
“This (building) is going to be around for a while. We want to do it the right way and long term,” Paczkowski said. He said it would be wise if the board was aware of what’s going on, even if action was taken before the next board meeting. Zydek said that made sense.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a resolution to reduce current budgets.
The resolution reduces the 2015 encumbrances and 2016 budget by a total of $475,000. It also reduces $160,000 out of the rainy day fund in order to have a budget for the fund, according to Business Manager Renee Sweeney.
“This is something we do every year around budget time,” she stated.
• Approved a resolution to join the Public Library Internet Consortium.
“This is something we have to do every year to continue getting whatever funds the State Library might want to give public libraries toward helping them pay for their Internet costs. And it also seems means we’re part of their consortium to file for eRate discounts,” Brookins said.
If the library doesn’t agree to it, it will have to pay a lot more for Internet access, she said. The agreement is for a year.
• Heard 2017 is the library’s 100th birthday. Several events are being planned to celebrate the anniversary.
Monday afternoon, the WCPL Board of Trustees voted for money from the rainy day fund to be used to make those repairs.
Heavy rain spanning two days in June backed up and caused a crack in a wall, allowing water into the building and into the technical services and cataloging work room.
The Flood Doctor had to be called in to professionally dry and purify the room.
Library Director Ann Zydek first reported about the rain damage to the board at its July meeting.
According to Maintenance Director Bruce Hively’s written report, SKRM, a Warsaw architecture firm, had D&C Construction excavate along the east wall for a better view of problem. The older portion of the building did have water proofing, but it had pulled away from the building and allowed water to get in behind the material and into the building.
SKRM directed D&C to clean the foundation wall and reseal with waterproofing. The waterproofing has been completed, and Hively’s report states they are working on finding a permanent solution to get the water away from the building. In the meantime, D&C put a pump in the excavated area to remove any water from rainfall. There’s since been no water coming into the building.
Zydek told the board on Monday, “In my report I tried to point out what progress we’ve made toward fixing what happened in our catalog room. If you noticed the lawn is looking a little bit burnt, they had to take a part of the connection to the irrigation system so today they were trying to do a little bit (of watering) with the hose.”
She said the difference between when the irrigation system is working and when it’s not is apparent.
Monday was when the library was supposed to have received some quotes to fix the problem, but Assistant Director Joni Brookins said Hively had not received those quotes as of the board meeting from the architect or the construction companies.
At the end of last week, Zydek reported, Hively had a chance to speak to the construction companies and there were two possibilities to fix the problem.
“One would be just trying to fix what’s right outside of that room, the other would be trying to say, ‘OK, what we see is that there’s no kind of drainage along that wall on the north side up to the entrance and going up past down to closer where it ends over there by Detroit Street.’ The other solution would be, let’s try to add something that comes in and goes to the sump pump we just added last fall outside of that room,” she said.
Zydek said at this point, the rainy day fund needs to be used for one of those solutions.
Zydek said they were hoping that it would be around $25,000, but it might be $5,000 to $10,000 more than that now.
“We were hoping it would stay about $25,000, but if we need to do something further because of what we have discovered there, we just need to see what those quotes are going to be,” she said.
Because of the damage to the cataloging room, Zydek said the library had an emergency book sale to move some of the material. A total of $774.55 was raised. Cataloging work is currently being done in the IT room temporarily.
Zydek requested the board approve a motion supporting the use of some of the rainy day money. She said some projects may have to be put aside in order to address the rain damage. The board approved such a motion.
Board member Rick Paczkowski asked Zydek if she had any problems sending proposals for the repairs to the board. “Because we’re talking a major outlay of cash,” he said, and the board should be made aware of what’s going on and how much it may cost.
Paczkowski said the board may want to take a look at it and determine whether it might be a good idea to put a little extra into it to get it right the first time and to keep the building in good condition for many years to come.
Zydek said they might want to move on the work before the next board meeting in September.
“This (building) is going to be around for a while. We want to do it the right way and long term,” Paczkowski said. He said it would be wise if the board was aware of what’s going on, even if action was taken before the next board meeting. Zydek said that made sense.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a resolution to reduce current budgets.
The resolution reduces the 2015 encumbrances and 2016 budget by a total of $475,000. It also reduces $160,000 out of the rainy day fund in order to have a budget for the fund, according to Business Manager Renee Sweeney.
“This is something we do every year around budget time,” she stated.
• Approved a resolution to join the Public Library Internet Consortium.
“This is something we have to do every year to continue getting whatever funds the State Library might want to give public libraries toward helping them pay for their Internet costs. And it also seems means we’re part of their consortium to file for eRate discounts,” Brookins said.
If the library doesn’t agree to it, it will have to pay a lot more for Internet access, she said. The agreement is for a year.
• Heard 2017 is the library’s 100th birthday. Several events are being planned to celebrate the anniversary.
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