By Leia Jobe/reporter2@trcle.com
The Johnson County commissioners will restart the bidding process for repairing the leaky roof at the jail after they turned down a bid Wednesday to fix it. Three contractors submitted bids, and all were too high, County Judge Roger Harmon said.
Curtis McKinley Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc. of Longview had the lowest bid — $547,800.
County purchasing agent Margaret Cook, a representative of McKinley roofing and two representatives from ARMKO, the consulting firm hired to write the project specifications, attended the meeting and recommended the court award the contract to McKinley.
Before the commissioners voted to decline the bid for repairs to the Johnson County Corrections Center in Cleburne, a majority of the discussion centered on the high cost.
“I think we can still get an adequate roof for $200,000 less,” County Judge Roger Harmon said.
Terry McKinley of McKinley Roofing said the project costs so much because it is labor-intensive and because the roof’s insulation is wet. Instead of building over the existing structure, the old roof would have to be removed and replaced.
“It’s a major investment, obviously, for the taxpayers,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Beeson said.
The price of the roof will vary depending on how it is attached, said ARMKO President Rodney Ruebsahm.
For the project, Ruebsahm and ARMKO’s Doug Shearer recommended a fully adhered system instead of a mechanically attached system because the fully adhered system will be stronger.
A fully adhered roofing system uses hot asphalt or adhesive to bond the roof membrane to insulation at the surface of the roof.
Because the insulation is already wet, it would need to be replaced too.
In a mechanically attached system, the contractor must attach the roof membrane to the surface using screws or nails.
“We had the conditions of the building dictate our specifications,” Ruebsahm said, meaning that the substantial water damage inflicted on the building by heavy rains had to be considered when ARMKO drafted its specifications.
Precinct 2 Commissioner John W. Matthews said that ARMKO did a good job in drafting the specifications, but he was concerned about receiving the best roof for the taxpayers’ money.
McKinley’s bid was based on a fully adhered, two-ply system. A two-ply system will be stronger and offer have a longer warranty than a single-ply, mechanically attached system, McKinley said.
The two-ply system, because it is thicker than a single ply, would offer more protection and help keep the roof waterproof for a longer time.
The bid to contractors will be revised and sent back out, Cook said. This time the specifications will include an option for the cheaper mechanically attached system.
Cook and ARMKO’s Doug Shearer will now revise the bid specifications, advertise for two weeks and return to the commissioners.
The court will address the bids as soon as possible, Harmon said, but it will probably be February before that can happen.
The commissioners also gave the sheriff’s office permission to apply for an environmental grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that would fund the addition of a second solid-waste investigator for the county.
Since the program’s establishment in 2002, the number of cases filed each year has substantially increased, from 151 cases in 2003 to 640 cases in 2007 through November.
Officer Steve Shaw’s workload has increased so much it’s becoming too much for one person to handle, Alford said, and hiring an additional officer would enable the program to continue to grow.
The program’s goal is to reduce littering, chemical spills and illegal dumping.
