by Geoff Fox
The roof on the Hancock Town Hall and Community Center is in desperate need of repair and town officials have received three bids to do the work on the roof.
Town Manager Mike Faith opened the three bids during the September town meeting.
Officials did not award a contract during the meeting. Instead, they decided to hold a special town meeting, which had been scheduled for September 26. However, a family matter with one of the town officials required the meeting to be rescheduled. No date has been announced.
The three bids for roof work were from Ram Enterprise of Hancock for $238,25; Hite Roofing Associates, Inc. of Cumberland for $187,000 and Prime Roofing and Exteriors of Beltsville also at $187,000.
The scope of work in the bids included: Removal of old roofing materials down to original slag over main roof and front and rear porches; inspect wood for damage and replace as necessary; install 2-inch ISO high density insulation board over entire roof deck; install new roof system with warranty inspection from manufacturer; heat weld all seams and penetrations; replace all pipe vent flashings with TPO pipe boots; install new 24-gauge steel metal
wall coping, preferably grey; replaces aluminum siding with metal siding in middle of main roof, run roof membrane up this wall, or suitable alternative; replace gutters and downspouts with 6-inch aluminum and 4×5 downspouts; replace shingles on bump out roof with standing seam; remove and dispose of all roof debris; and 20-year workmanship warranty, minimum.
The whole roof “is bad” and in need of being replaced, Faith said.
A number of years ago, when work was done on the roof, a rubber roof was laid out over the roof, which typically would follow the contour of the roof.
However, on the roof of Town Hall, Faith said it looks like someone draped the rubber over the roof and likened it to a child’s couch fort.
“Imagine as a child, you made a little fort in your living room with a chair and the sofa and you drape it over it, like you didn’ t tuck around the sides,” he said. “That’s what it looks like.”
The roof is also starting to fail, as there are some leaking issues in the building.
“We really want to get it replaced before winter,” Faith said, adding there had been ice dams on the roof last winter.
With the condition of the roof, Faith said it is remarkable there haven’t been more problems.
“It’s just way overdue to be replaced,” he said.
During the meeting, Councilman David Kerns requested the chimney be removed as it is no longer used and there is vegetation growing out of it.
The removal of the chimney was not in the original bid request.
Faith said there had been a discussion during a previous town meeting where Kerns
and Councilman Pat Norris would write up specs for the request for proposal on the roof. Both Kerns and Norris have construction backgrounds.
They wrote down what was needed and Faith drew up the request for proposal.
Kerns approached Faith about the chimney after the RFP was submitted.
Faith didn’t want to submit a change because the town is on a tight schedule for the work, so Faith proposed that once the roofer is hired, they could make a change order and get a price on demolishing the chimney, taking it off, and patching the roof. The roofer can then decide if they’d want to do that work. Splash pad winterized
In other town business, Faith said the splash pad has been shut down and winterized for the season.
He said the fixtures were removed and any remaining water was removed. The fixtures were then replaced.
“The company that installed it, Splash Pads USA, they actually came in and walked us through the whole process,” Faith said.