FAIRMONT– On Tuesday, Brian Murrell with The Garland Company, a commercial roofing company, shared some information with the Martin County Commissioners regarding a roof replacement project at the Martin County Library in Fairmont. The project will be funded in part by the county and the city of Fairmont and has been budgeted for by each entity.

Murrell pointed out that Garland has previously done work with the county as they were involved with the roof replacement project on the Human Services building.

For the library, Murrell said they’re looking at doing a total replacement of the roof.

“There’s been numerous issues discovered there. From my technical expertise, I’ve identified some issues that could be more problematic in the future,” Murrell said.

He said they’re looking at what’s called a modified built-up roof, which is the same system used on the Human Services building.

“Why it’s called a modified built-up roof, versus a standard built-up roof, is the plys that go inside of the roofing system… have reinforcement scrims and a rubber modifier in the asphalt. It really gives you the best of both worlds of multiple layers… and also have the ability to stretch and conform when you have weeks like this where we’re 18 degrees last night and it will pop up to 70 this weekend,” Murrell said.

He said spring and fall are the toughest times on a roof because the building doesn’t know if it should be expanding or contracting and over time the stress on the roof will become problematic.

Murrell said the Human Services roof project presented a lot of unique challenges and he said they’re aware there were smell complaints with that project and they have plans in place to address that with this project.

He said they’ll see better square foot pricing for the library roof project because it’s lower to the ground and structurally one level.

The estimated cost will be between $510,000 to $540,000. Murrell said that they’ll bid the project out, bring contractors in and go through the project details with them.

Commissioner Elliot Belgard asked if the original roof is still on the library building.

Library Director Jenny Trushenski said that the building opened in 1969 and she believes some roof work was done in the 90s where the roof was just patched over.

Belgard said it was the recommendation of the building committee to work with The Garland Company. The board approved proceeding with The Garland Company for the design, specifications, bidding and construction for the roof replacement project for the library roof.

The board also heard from Maintenance Supervisor, Luke Cyphers, regarding some items in the courthouse that need to be addressed.

First, Commissioner Kathy Smith had requested that the tile inside courthouse door #2 be looked at as it was cracking and deteriorating.

“People use this entrance more than the main entrance so I think it would be a good move to replace it,” Smith said.

Cyphers said he contacted two companies and received two drastically different quotes. However, he said the company they’ve worked with in the past, Terrazzo Designs, had the low bid of $17,000 and that the building committee recommended to go with it.

Belgard noted that while it’s a not a large area, it is Terrazzo, a good product that’s in the rest of the building. The board accepted the low bid to redo the the floor by door #2.

Next, Cyphers provided a heating update. He said this time of year when the maintenance department turns the furnaces on they usually find several problems and this year was no different.

He said the Sisseton Room furnace is down and while someone is coming to look at it, it’s 20 years old so he’s going to request a bid to possibly replace it. Several other furnaces are about that old and Cyphers suggested they’re put on a ration to get one replaced each year in the coming years.

“The library boiler pump sprung a leak Monday morning. It was noisy and by Monday afternoon… it was pouring out water. We’re catching it with a garbage can. We have that pump on order next day from Cress Refrigeration,” Cyphers said.

He noted that that cost, for $2,500, will be split with the city of Fairmont.

“This heating season has brought in a few problems. There’s always more as it gets colder,” Cyphers said.

In other action, the board:

— Accepted a donation of $892 to the Martin County Park Fund in the memory of long-time Park Board member Bruce Goraczowski.

— Authorized execution of the annual county boat and water safety grant agreement in the amount of $2,416.

— Set a public hearing time and date of 10 a.m. Nov. 15 to consider abatement to Chad Hasted of property taxes to be levied by the county for new construction of a single family home in Galena Township.

— Approved reclassification of James Berg, Associate County Attorney, to Assistant County Attorney following passing of the bar exam.

–Approved the hire of Phil Schafer and Sarah Schaefer as temporary election judges for the Martin County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office.

— Approved the resignation/retirement of Kris Sparks, property tax calculation technician, effective Oct. 17 and authorized recruitment for the position.