Roof repairs hit new snag after rotten wood found

The ongoing situation connected with a perpetually leaking roof at a county-owned building on Walnut Street in Meadville took center stage once again during the Monday, July 5 business meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

The structure, which is adjacent to the courthouse and is home the Mississippi State University Extension Service office as well as the Franklin County Museum, has a flat roof on which repair work recently began.

In recent years, numerous leaks have caused considerable damage to ceiling tiles, wall paneling and floors inside the structure.

This situation prompted District 2 Supervisor Henry “Eddie” Stebbins to publicly state last year that if some corrective action was not taken, the county could potentially “lose the building.”

Officials in conjunction with the county’s engineering firm — WGK Inc. — along with Waycaster & Associates Architects identified a number of issues on top of the structure ranging from problems with existing flashing to low spots that held vast amounts of water following each rain event.

After an analysis of the situation, the county had to decide between repairing the existing flat surface or building a pitched roof with the latter option proving to be cost prohibitive. In the end, bids were sought to repair the flat roof with the contract ultimately awarded to Independent Roofing on Dec. 20, 2021.

The county retained the services of Waycaster & Associates to oversee the project from start to finish.

During the July 5 supervisors’ business meeting, Stebbins told the panel that workers, who are now currently in the process of replacing the roof, had found rotten wood when they went to attach new gutters to the building as part of the project.

“We need to stop this thing and get with the architect or the gutters will be on the ground in a year or so,” Stebbins said.

Chancery Clerk Jill Gilbert called Waycaster & Associates representatives during the meeting and confirmed the contractor had found some rotten wood along the back of the structure with Independent Roofing’s owner inspecting the situation and getting the county a price to replace such materials.

Board members promptly questioned whether or not their construction contract had a clause that would take care of or address an issue like this.

“We will revisit that when we get that information from them,” District 5 Supervisor Jimmie “Bodi” Bass, who also serves as board president, said.

Other business considered by supervisors at the session included:

• Hearing again from the Rev. Bolin of Roxie about an issue with the asphalt on Tolbert Lane. The board told him that as the road is within the municipality’s corporate limits, he would need to ask the Town of Roxie to address the issue.

• Voting to appoint Elizabeth Rushing as election commissioner to replace Elizabeth Lazarus, who turned in a letter of resignation in June. Rushing will serve until the next election in November.

• Giving approval for Bass to sign a letter of engagement with the State Audit Department for the county’s fiscal year 2021 audit.

• Approving payment in the amount of $918.50 to Waycaster & Associates for services rendered on the Extension Service Office-Museum roof replacement project.

• Receiving a letter from WGK Inc., which stated that Alan Coleman Construction could begin work on Local System Bridge Program-19(17).

• Approving payment in the amount of $53,285.70 to Midway Construction for work performed on a Natural Resources Conservation Services project at the McCall Creek Road Bridge.

• Accepting a bid from Alan Coleman Construction for $582,849.70 to do work on LSBP-19(18), which is a project involving a bridge on Oak Grove Road.

Other bids received for the project were from Dozer, LLC in the amount of $640,680.50; G. Rayborn Contractors for $686,192.10; Joe MaGee Construction for $714,484.55; and Midway Construction in the amount of $663,260.85.

• Giving approval to pay Walter Beesley $719.44 for collecting a total of $2,877.75 in Justice Court fines during June.

• Approving the payment of two claims from The Franklin Advocate — $133.56 for the cash disbursements journal and $423 for a notice to contractors for State Aid Project-19(72) on Providence Road.

• Authorizing payment to Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance for the following — $175 for a $50,000 bond on Deputy Sheriff Zachary Bryant; $175 for $50,000 bond on Kenneth Bethley, District 3 receiving clerk; and $175 for a bond on Deputy Tax Assessor-Collector Elshekita Dyer.

• Receiving two quotes — one from Revolution Data Systems for $6,999.92 and one from Harris Computer Systems for $10,000 — for scanning land record deed books E-5 through Z-5 and doing reverse imaging, as the pages consist of a black background with white writing.

The quote from Revolution Data Systems was accepted by the panel.

• Approving a payment of $75 to the District 5 Fire Department for rental of the building during the Republican Party primary runoff election held on Tuesday, June 28.

• Giving approval to pay Belinda Stewart Architects $3,084.60 for services rendered on courthouse repairs being undertaken through a Department of Archives and History grant.

• Approving a Memorandum of Understanding with the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center to house Franklin County youth detainees.

• Approving the fiscal year 2022 fourth quarter budget allocations for the sheriff and tax assessor-collector.

• Authorizing payment of $195 to Amite County Medical Services Inc., for dental work done on an inmate.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors will hold its next regular business session at 9 a.m., Monday, July 18 at the courthouse in Meadville.