Committee will see prices to replace fairgrounds barn roof

Committee members call for bids for human services roof; reject plan to move veterans service office

Costly roof repairs will be in the county’s future.

The county’s buildings and grounds committee on Tuesday discussed the need to replace the 42-year-old roof to the dairy barn at the fairgrounds and to replace the leaking roof at the county’s human services building.

Fair Board president Tim Hobl raised concern about the dairy barn roof noting that after recent rainstorms the 6x6 beams supporting the roof were wet 8 feet down the posts and that the framing supporting the roof is rotted in places.

While the fair uses the dairy barn during the weeklong county fair each summer, in the winter months, the county rents the building for camper and boat storage. County Clerk Andria Farrand noted there is already a waiting list for people wanting to store their campers and boats there.

The structure measures 54 feet wide and is 200 feet long. Hobl explained that they have been attempting to deal with issues for the past 10 years with it and that it has gotten to the point where he has concerns about potential to stand up to snow loads. He said this could present a liability concern for the county with the value of the items stored there over the winter months.

Hobl said one of the issues with the building is that it was built without eaves and that when it rains the water routinely runs down into the barn rather than outside. Buildings and ground supervisor Joe Svejda said there are other concerns with the building including the condition of the access doors and the service doors.

“It will be a costly repair,” Svejda said. Committee chairman Diane Albrecht raised concern on if the barn was worth repairing or if they should be looking to rebuild it. Hobl said he felt the building was structurally sound and that the priority should be replacing the roof and including eaves to direct the water away from the walls. Previously the county had received a quote of about $66,000 for the roof replacement with the hope of tapping into federal COVID recovery grant funds the county received.

Finance director Larry Brandl said that is a possibility and said there is currently about $179,000 that is uncommitted in the ARPA funds. “There would be money available,” he said.

The existing barn was built between 1979 and 1980. Brandl suggested the county do an analysis of what the building needs and get quotes for the work to move forward. Committee members agreed and directed Svejda to get quotes on the project and bring it to the next meeting.

Human Services Roof

While not objecting to the need to replace the roof at the human services building, committee member Jim Gebauer called for increased fairness in giving area contractors a chance to bid on the work.

Svejda came to the committee with quotes from JP Roofing and Concrete to do the work for $63,975 while another company, Rock and Tape submitted quotes of $83,719 and $75,000.

“Don’t we have any local contractors interested?” Gebauer asked.

Svejda said he also spoke with a more local company who gave a quote of $69,300.

Gebauer questioned if the project had been advertised for bids. “Don’t you think it would be better to put an ad out?” Gebauer said suggesting there may be a lot of contractors who didn’t even know to submit proposals.

“It looks like we are picking certain people,” Gebauer said, of the appearance of only giving certain contractors an opportunity to submit a price. He said putting an ad in the paper gives all the contractors a fair chance.

“You may get a better bid, or maybe you don’t get any bids,” he said.

“I think that is the a fair way to do it myself,” he said, in response to Svejda noting there would be a cost for advertising for it. Committee member Lisa Carbaugh expressed concern about the potential of increasing costs and having delays in the work by seeking bids. “I just think it will take a lot of time,” she said.

Committee members voted to advertise for bids for the human services roofing project. There is money in this year’s buildings and grounds budget to pay for the roof to be replaced.

In other business, committee members:

  Denied a request to move the veterans service office from their current location across the hall to a currently vacant office. Finance director Larry Brandl questioned the need for the move noting he felt the office across the hall was smaller. He also questioned the existing records vault in the current office which was why it has been in that location since the 1970s. Board member Catherine Lemke who serves on the veterans service committee, suggested that the county may want to wait until after a new veterans service officer is hired before they move the office so that individual has input on the decision. Committee members agreed and voted to keep the office in its current location.

  Tabled a request to rent the fairgrounds for a Latina festival and rodeo event planned for mid-September. The organizer had asked for permission to hold the event to show that Medford and Taylor County support the Hispanic community. The major focus of the event was to be bringing in a traditional Hispanic rodeo. While overall supportive of the event, committee members were concerned about the lack of proof of insurance, noting that the rodeo promoter the local organizers are working with needs to show proof of insurance to protect the organizers, the participants and the county. There was also concern about if the grandstand of the fairgrounds was the appropriate venue for a rodeo considering there is a dedicated rodeo arena nearby. The organizer noted she had initially contacted K Bar R but the cost to rent it was too high for what they planned to do. Her intention was to hold the event and donate proceeds to the youth soccer organization’s field project. Albrecht suggested that the organizers take the time to get all their ducks in a row and and schedule the event to occur next June rather than rush it now. The organizers expressed concerns that without a set date they would not be interested in coming here and if pressed on showing proof of insurance would likely back away. After a lengthy discussion committee members tabled action on the request pending the proof of insurance.

  Directed Svejda to work with forest and recreation administrator Jake Walcisak to submit a grant request to the Department of Natural Resources for the replacement of the county boat landings at Miller Dam. Svejda told committee members that under the DNR rules he needed a resolution granting him the ability to write a grant on behalf of the county. Walcisak, who has written numerous DNR grants for the county, has that authorization and volunteered to submit it under his name in order to meet the September 1 grant application deadline. If the county needs to approve a separate authorization resolution it would potentially delay replacement of the landings until 2024.

  Directed Svejda to look into options for enhancing audio for the Taylor County Board room. Board members have raised concern about the echoes in the room and inability to hear other board members. He will explore options and bring back a recommendation to the committee. In related action, Svejda will also look into the potential for electronic voting devices which would allow all board members to vote at the same time for roll call votes rather than going around the room like they do now.

“Don’t you think it would be better to put an ad out?”

— Jim Gebauer calling for the county to put an estimated $70,000 roof replacement out for bid rather than asking specific contractors for quotes.