By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES— This year, the Town of Naples plans to invest in a brand new tarp to cover the gymnasium roof for the fifth winter in a row.

Actually, the commercial tarps were short in supply so the town will purchase an ice rink liner instead. 

“Normally the blue tarps cost us about $600, but we were unable to locate one anywhere this year due to supply chain issues. We had to go with an ice rink liner this year, and that cost was $900,” according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley. 

On Monday, resident Ken Norton asked what would be done regarding the town gymnasium roof. He spoke during Public Participation time at the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting.

Apparently, a tarp is the answer. It’s been the go-to since the winter of 2018-19. 

Norton recommended that the town hire someone to remove ceiling tiles and inspect the roof for mold and for structural integrity. 

It was less than a week since Election Day, when Naples voters turned down the $11.9 million price tag associated with replacing the gymnasium and the 70-year old building attached to it.  

The problem with the gym roof hasn’t been resolved.

Norton asked about the engineer’s report that was done in 2018. He asked if ceiling tiles were removed. Hawley said the ceiling tiles in the corner where the roof was leaking were removed but inspections were not done in other areas. 

“I wonder if that is time to do another assessment,” Norton said.  

The weight load is five times less than what it should be for building code, Norton said.  

The engineer’s assessment rated it at 13 pounds per square foot (PPSF). The current standard is 65 PPSF, he said. 

“Ten inches of snow or two inches of water — you cannot have anyone in there,” Norton said, referring to the engineer’s report.  

The discussion turned toward the history of the gym roof and why it wasn’t replaced earlier. About three or four years ago, voters approved at town meeting almost $100,000 to put a pitched roof on the town gym. 

“We put it out to bid. There wasn’t a contractor who was willing to do it because they didn’t believe it would support an angled roof,” Hawley said.

A letter from HEB Engineers, the company that provided the assessment, warned that the roof could not support very much snow weight. 

“Based on our observations and limited calculations, the existing roof structure is not capable of supporting the code required snow loads,” the vice president of HEB Engineers wrote in a letter dated Nov. 6, 2019. “These capacities may be further reduced by damage from roof leakage. We recommend that the roof structure be entirely replaced or reinforced, as is being planned.”

“In the meantime, we have the following recommendations: 

• Prevent access to the gym when there is 10 inches of snow on the roof (equivalent to 2.5 inches of rain.)

• Remove all snow from roof.”

During Monday’s meeting, Selectman Ted Shane addressed public safety and asked fellow selectmen for their opinion.   

“My question for this group. At some point, do we stop using the gym? Is it unsafe,” he said.

At that point, a solution was not discussed. The status quo has been to remove snow or rainwater from the roof immediately.  

The roof was leaking prior to Hawley becoming town manager. 

“When I first got here in February of 2018, there was no tarp on the roof, but the gym had been closed to use because of significant leaking. That spring, the BOS told me to replace the roof, and I went out to bid for a new rubber membrane roof. The bid came back at $48,000, and the BOS refused to consider paying such a cost at that time. They insisted that we put a pitched roof on the building. We put a budget together for $125,000 to put a pitched roof on but when the project went out to bid, there were no bidders,” Hawley said. 

“When we consulted with a couple of contractors as to why we didn’t get any bids, no one wanted to touch the roof because they didn’t believe the existing structure could handle the new weight load. That is when we hired HEB Engineers to come in and tell us what could be done. They determined that the walls were not constructed to hold any more weight and that additional structure would need to be added to the walls. That is when the process of replacing the gym started. A full building assessment was ordered that recommended replacing the whole building, which gets us to today,” Hawley said.