The roof has fallen in on the West Liberty Police Department.
In a regular meeting Monday, village council approved a $5,200 estimate from Stidham’s Painting and Roofing to repair a partial collapse of the ceiling in the village community room caused by heavy rains last month.
Partial collapse of the roof resulted from “substantial” leaking, council said. Fallen ceiling landed on Police Chief Shane Oelker’s desk and computer, and damaged equipment.
West Liberty police have operated out of the community room, sharing space with the public library, since May when the village’s insurance provider ceased to cover the building previously housing the department because it had fallen in such disrepair and was no longer considered safe for occupancy.
Council had spot patched leaky spots in the roof several times previously, according to discussion Monday.
Renovation of the police department’s future permanent home at 111 Runkle St. is on hold until after the first of the year, village officials report.
Council had been soliciting bids as recently as October for a general contractor to overhaul the building. However, only a single bid was received, and it was over $120,000 more than the firm JS Engineering had estimated that council would spend to rehabilitate the building.
The project is likely to generate more competitive interest from companies looking for jobs after the first of the year, council reasons.
Read complete story in Tuesday’s Examiner.
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