ARICHAT: Municipal staff was asked to get cost estimates for a new roof on a sewage treatment plant.
The matter of roof repairs to the sewage treatment plant in Louisdale returned to the table during the committee-of-the-whole meeting of Richmond Municipal Council in Arichat on March 9.
Director of public works Chris Boudreau reported back to council with cost estimates for a pitched metal roof, and a pitched roof with shingles. In correspondence to council, Boudreau said the metal roof cost $18,000 more.
Chief Administrative Officer Don Marchand told council the estimates include all taxes and engineering fees.
Despite the difference in price, district 4 councillor Gilbert Boucher maintained that a metal roof is the better option because it’s guaranteed for 50 years, whereas shingle roofs with a 25-year warrantee barely last eight years.
“I think we have to look at that, because right now, metal is very cheap,” Boucher noted.
Warden Brian Marchand said the decision has already been made to go with a pitched roof, now it’s up to staff to investigate more options.
While he also supports getting estimates from different contractors, Boucher was unhappy about the possibility of doing business outside the municipality.
“The problem I have is we’re going outside of the county with these contractors,” Boucher stated. “I know we have rules and regulations but we’re getting taken to the cleaners. We should be able to go to a supplier ourselves and find out what that metal costs. We have an engineer on staff, he should be able to tell us. The local contractors around here should be able to tell us how long it takes to put a roof on. We’re using taxpayer’s money to go outside the county.”
The motion to provide staff with authorization to proceed to tender, while looking into the costs, was approved by council.
During the regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on February 24, the CAO reported a leak in the roof of the treatment plant.
Boudreau said they were told by staff of a number of leaks in the roof, and after further inspection, it was determined there was a problem with the membrane.
A company was brought in to do an assessment and they found that the rubber membrane had detached from the roof frames, and as a result, there was significant water damage. They gave the municipality two options: replace the roof (which is good for 25-30 years) at a cost in the range of $25,000 to $30,000 by replacing the rubber membrane and reconnecting it to the roof frame; and the second option is a replacement at a budget of approximately $60,000.
Given the age of the building, the contractor recommended replacing the roof, reasoning that repairing the roof could make future repairs costly.
Boudreau requested council approve funding for the replacement of the roof at the meeting, rather than during budget deliberations, so the project can start as early as possible.
Council approved a motion to have Boudreau get estimates on the costs of a metal pitched roof and report to council.