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Wayne White
Managing Editor
Water damage at the Osage County Courthouse was not caused by a
leak in the roof, commissioners heard Friday from the manager of
an ongoing energy-saving renovation project at the courthouse.
Nathan Whitney, of Trane, the company overseeing the renovations,
told commissioners that a roof drain had become plugged, causing
water to backup and leak out of the cast iron pipe inside the walls
of the courthouse. The pipe is one of several that were designed
to drain rainwater from the roof to an underground pipeline.
The leaking pipe caused damage to three floors of the courthouse,
including a judge’s office, the treasurer’s office,
and the appraiser’s office. Ceilings, walls, carpeting, paperwork,
and office machines were among items damaged from the leak. As of
Friday, no cost estimate had been determined, but commissioners
said they expected the damage to total thousands of dollars. Osage
County Treasurer Jo Anne Hamilton said an initial estimate of damage
in her office was $7,000-$8,000.
Whitney reported Friday he had been assisting with removing carpet
from a judge’s office and the treasurer’s office.
At the Aug. 25 commission meeting, commissioners learned of the
leak and water damage caused by the overnight rainstorm of Aug.
22-23, and met with Whitney by conference call. From information
learned at that meeting, commissioners indicated they believed the
roof had leaked. At the time of the leak, the courthouse was being
re-roofed by Dale Poe Commercial Roofing.
At Friday’s meeting, Whitney said he had confirmed the source
of the water damage Aug. 26 after a camera was used to inspect the
inside of the roof drain on the southwest corner of the courthouse.
“Your drain is collapsed,” Whitney told commissioners
as he presented photographs of rubble inside the line. “That
roof drain backed up and caused the water damage.”
He said the collapse and blockage in the pipe is at a location under
the courthouse lawn.
Questioned by Osage County Commissioner Carl Meyer, Whitney said
the pipe was not clogged by debris from the roofing project.
Osage County Commissioner Larry Woodson questioned who would be
responsible for paying for the damage.
“So this morning, did you bring your credit card to pay for
the water damage?” Woodson asked. “If you hadn’t
cut holes in the roof, water wouldn’t have come in and caused
damage, would it?”
Whitney disagreed, saying the water had leaked from the roof drainpipe
inside the walls, not through the roof.
“It certainly wasn’t in our scope of work to clean out
drains out in the ground,” Whitney said.
“We’ve had a lot of moisture up until this time, and
hadn’t had any problem until now,” Meyer said.
During later discussion, commissioners agreed a similar problem
had occurred several years ago at the southeast corner of the courthouse.
During that incident, leaves and debris had plugged a drain, commissioners
said.
Commissioners expressed appreciation for Dale Poe and his crew,
who helped clean up damage at the courthouse during the weekend
of the incident.
Whitney said Poe was also willing to assist in repairing the damage.
“What Dale has offered to do,” Whitney said, “he
will come in to do painting or whatever to help. He doesn’t
want to file a claim with his insurance, because he doesn’t
think it was the roof itself.”
Whitney said the roofing company did not cause the leak.
“[Poe] planned on rain, he sealed it up, and then this happened,”
Whitney said.
“I feel terrible,” he added.
Whitney said the solution to the problem is to repair the collapse,
replace cast iron drainpipes with PVC pipe, and install drains,
or scuppers, at roof level to serve as secondary drains in the event
the drainpipes become clogged again. He said contractors plan to
install historically accurate scuppers within the next few weeks.
Commissioners made no determination regarding responsibility for
the water damage, but they agreed to seek legal advice before submitting
a claim to the county’s insurance company.
During Friday’s discussion of the renovations, commissioners
also considered the county’s expense from additional work
deemed outside the scope of the project. Courthouse custodian Clark
Thompson said he had been contacted by the company that is to install
new windows in the courthouse, and was told the county was responsible
for removing old wooden window screen frames.
Whitney said removal of the old screen frames was not in the contract.
“The screen frames weren’t in our scope of work,”
he said. “It really wasn’t in the price of the job to
do it.”
He explained the frames were a historical feature of the courthouse,
and even though they are to be removed, they must be catalogued
and stored on site permanently to satisfy historical preservation
guidelines.
“If you do it as the owner, there is no liability,”
he said. “There is great liability if we do it.”
Woodson questioned whether courthouse custodial staff had needed
expertise to remove the historical frames.
“If we get a historical loan,” said Meyer, “we
have to follow the regulations.”
“If you’re not comfortable with [custodial staff] doing
that, that’s fine,” Whitney said. “I’ll
have to get someone to do it.”
He said he would consult an historical preservation expert regarding
the proper procedures for removing the window frames.
Other expenses incurred by the county during the project have included
using the county’s crane and operator to place equipment on
the roof, providing staff to open and secure the courthouse outside
normal business hours, and providing personnel to move furniture
and equipment in construction areas.
Questioned by Osage County Commissioner William Prescott about the
expense of moving furniture, Whitney said, “If your point
is you weren’t expecting to have to hire [a moving company]
to move furniture, I’m willing to take care of that.”
Whitney advised commissioners to log all of the county’s expenses
and notify Trane.
“We can pay as we go,” he said.
In other discussion of the renovation project, commissioners agreed
to close the courthouse an additional day. As announced last week,
the courthouse is to be closed Sept. 4 due to installation of electrical
equipment. Another portion of the project requiring closure of the
courthouse will be lifting air conditioning units onto the roof;
commissioners decided that is to be done Friday. The courthouse
will be closed both days.
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