Andrew School roof still leaking

BY JANA SEMENIUK

Severe water leaking into Andrew School prompted a visit from Elk Island School facilities workers last week.

At least seven containers, including four large garbage cans, were being used by staff in both the village office side and the school side to capture water coming in from the ceiling.

Andrew Mayor Merwin Haight said the leaking had been going on at least since Christmas and is a regular occurrence.

“Elk Island has been informed of it, and it's with their maintenance facility department. To my knowledge, the superintendent is aware of it,” he said. “It’s been an ongoing issue for the last couple of weeks, for sure.”

The Andrew Village Office and Andrew School are both housed in the same building.

EIPS Communications

Director Laura McNabb said EIPS was not aware of the current leakage.

Meanwhile, issues with the roof have plagued the building for the past several years with the matter coming to a head this summer after photos of a visibly damaged metal roof and garbage bags being stuffed into the ceiling to prevent leakage were published by the media.

Superintendent Mark Liguori held a town hall meeting in the school gymnasium Sept. 20 to inform parents and community members of the state of the building’s roof in addition to plans moving forward, stating that estimates would take approximately 60 days to come in.

It was thought at that time that repairs could exceed $1 million, when in fact two estimates came in at between $3.2 and $3.3 million as communicated in a letter to village council as well as parents from EIPS last week. The estimate is without contingency or possible asbestos abatement.

“Both the EIPS Board of Trustees and the Village of Andrew council will now separately review the specifics of the inspection and assessment and determine next steps based on the information received from the contractors. There has been no date set as to a decision by either party,” stated the letter.

In the meantime, McNabb said the current leakage is being caused by ice damming on the roof and contractors have been on-site to mitigate the issue.

While Lamont County trustee Colleen Holowaychuk initially refused to comment on Andrew School’s ongoing roof leakage problem, she eventually offered one.

“As was shared with school families in the fall there are issues with the roof of the building and EIPS is in contact and working with the Village as it is a shared building,” she said by messenger. She would not comment specifically on the current two-week leakage.

A water-wrinkled sign is posted on one of four large garbage cans that were used to capture water leaking from the roof of Andrew School last week.

McNabb said a board policy prevents Trustees from sharing their opinions and views with the media.