Alton Selectboard approves Town Hall roof replacement

ALTON — The selectboard approved a contract for nearly $114,000 for the replacement of the Town Hall roof.

The selectboard accepted the bid of $106,469 from Drew’s Affordable Steel Roofing during its July 28 meeting. The board also added two extras: the roof being sheathed at 0.5-inch CDX plywood and adding another 100 snow stops for safety, at a cost of $7,500. That brings the total roof project to $113,969.

“We don’t have an exact date of installation yet, but the materials have been ordered,” Town Administrator Ryan Heath said on Monday. “Once they arrive, we can get a firm start date.”

The last time Town Hall had a new roof was 2014, when a new asphalt shingle roof was installed.

The town put out an invitation to bid to strip the existing asphalt shingled roof and trim at Town Hall, to be replaced with a brand new roof. The selectboard asked that the new roof be metal and in a style consistent with the era and type of building. Bids were due to the town offices by June 26.

Part of the project overview was including removal of existing roofing materials, inspecting and replacing the roof deck, and installing a new metal roof system that includes flashing, trim and accessories.

The bid invitation included a scope of work to include removing and disposing of the existing roof; inspecting and replacing the damaged decking; installing ice and water shields; installing the metal roofing system according to the manufacturer’s specifications; installing the flashing, trim and ventilation; and cleaning up the site.

It also called for a minimum 30-year manufacturer warranty and a five-year workmanship warranty.

The board discussed the roof replacement at the July 14 and 28 meetings. Selectboard member Richard Shea said on July 14, the town received two quotes, from Vermont Construction and Drew’s Affordable Steel. Selectboard member Drew Carter said there were quotes for three different materials, including a standing seam, asphalt roof and a metal shingle.

Chair Paul LaRochelle was pleased with the bid, saying “they spelled everything out quite well.”

Shea added since the board expressed interest in having the roof look like slate, but didn’t necessarily want to pay for slate, Drew’s Affordable Steel Roofing was the most appealing.

The board continued the discussion on July 28, with LaRochelle saying they wanted to talk about using 0.5-inch CDX plywood rather than oriented strand board, as originally proposed in the bid.

Going from 7/16-inch plywood to 0.5-inch plywood, and additional 100 snow breaks, it would cost an additional $7,500.

Heath said the CDX is $40 a sheet, and is better quality for the roof they were looking for. LaRochelle said the only reason they wanted to go to 05.-inch is due to the warranty for the metal roofing. He also said the vendor confirmed the dumpster and disposal costs were included in the bid.

Shea said, in the July 28 meeting, he wanted to make sure the contractor also follows “exactly” the manufacturer’s installation instructions. Heath said this kind of language can be included in a contract, to spell out that the manufacturer’s installation standards would be followed “to the letter.”

LaRochelle said by looking at previous jobs and references, this roof has been applied to other town buildings successfully. He said it is a “pretty decent product,” and has been proven to work well in other towns. He also thought the selectboard was more thorough than the previous administration, when the asphalt shingle roof was installed.

“That has failed prematurely,” LaRochelle said. “If they had done more work looking at that, like we are with this, I think we wouldn’t be here.”

LaRochelle said he thought there might have been some nitpicking going on, and it was time to make the decision.

“I personally think, at this time, we’ve gone through this many times,” LaRochelle said. “And I think, at this point, it’s time to pull the trigger.”

Selectboard member Jack Sleeper voted against the contract, saying even though this was an open bid process, he didn’t like that they didn’t get a comparable price on a similar roof.

The selectboard voted 4-1 to approve the roofing contract.