County allocates $534,000 for jail roof repair

Wayne County Council has allocated $534,380 for repairs to the roof of the Wayne County Jail.

But county officials hope to recoup some of that money by taking to task whoever is responsible for a 10-year-old roof that began leaking less than a year after the jail opened.

That leak has occurred repeatedly in the jail’s administrative office, particularly in the office of the sheriff’s chief deputy, prompting Sheriff Jeff Cappa on Wednesday to quip “the chief deputy keeps a raft in his office.”

In February, the Wayne County Board of Commissioners met with a consultant from DLZ, an architectural and engineering firm in Indianapolis, who said he had never seen a roof similar to the one installed over the jail that needed to be replaced within 10 years.

Steve Higinbotham, county director of facilities and development, said the roof has been patched 30 times in 10 years.

The DLZ representative recommended roof joints, valleys and flashing, estimating the cost to be about a half million dollars.

County Commissioner Ken Paust said he was happy the money was allocated now and will be spent, adding the county will seek restitution from the roof’s designer or installer.

“We need to have all the parties up there on the roof to determine who will pay for what,” Paust said. “Unfortunately, we won’t know anything until we tear into that roof.”

Paust said the meeting will be arranged for later this spring with all the prominent players and their insurance and legal representatives.

“We are moving forward. Unfortunately, it won’t happen overnight. But this is progress,” Paust said.

The money will come from the county’s jail bond debt service fund.

The roof was installed by Kelley Brothers Roofing Inc. of Fairfield, Ohio. It was designed by Schenkel Schultz Architecture of Fort Wayne, Ind.

The original bid on the roof was $82,998.

Staff writer Bill Engle: (765) 973-4481 or bengle@pal-item.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/billengle_PI.