The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors voted to advertise forbids to replace the roof of the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin RegionalLibrary Monday after reviewing the initial cost estimate providedby the county’s engineering firm, Dungan Engineering, PA.

The $160,000 estimate caused some supervisors to squirm for amoment, but company principal Jeff Dungan explained that theestimate was “generous” and that competition among contractors forbids was improving, two factors that could lower the actual cost ofthe project.

“This estimate is priced at $18 per square foot, but it could bedone at $14,” he said. “It’s getting better. A lot of contractorsare running out of work; the Katrina wave is dying down.”

Inquiries were made as to whether the roof could simply berepaired and not replaced, but the engineers advised against quickfixes.

“There really isn’t a fix for the roof,” said project managerRyan Holmes. “It’s been fixed all it can be fixed. Every timesomeone goes up there to patch it, they end up just causing moredamage. It needs to be replaced. And, the new roof would be under awarranty for 20 years.”

Comforted by the potential for a cheaper project and atwo-decade warranty, and fully aware of the library’s leaks, thesupervisors agreed unanimously to advertise for bids.

“Well, we can’t keep buying buckets,” said District FourSupervisor Doug Moak. “Let’s get some bids.”

Bidding for the contract is expected to begin around the firstof April.

“We feel like we can get the design down within about a month,”Holmes said. “We hope to start on it as soon as possible.”

Dungan will draw up plans for the installation of a modifiedbitumen roof system, a type of membrane covering that will give theflat-roofed library a long period without leakage.

“With flat roofs, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ they leak, it’s’when,'” Holmes said. “The bitumen roof has a higher probabilitythat it won’t leak, and the warranty we will get with it should beat least 20 years – that’s one of the reasons why we chose thistype.”

Holmes said that once the low bid for the project had beenaccepted, the job will take about one month to complete. He saidthe contract will allow for 90 days, but the work will probablyconclude sooner.