The Cayuga County Office Building will need a new roof after a storm earlier this month severely damaged it.
Legislature Chair Aileen McNabb-Coleman updated the legislature at its Tuesday meeting where she presented photos of the roof’s damage compared to undamaged portions of the roof.
“The roof in general has been compromised,” McNabb-Coleman said. “[It] has been patched in other areas but they’ve just been also a short-term patch, so a new roof will be planned for the spring and summer.”
The short-term patches are expected to last through the winter months until work repair work can begin in the spring or summer. She added that updates will continue in the coming months from the public works committee.
She also stated that the county was lucky that asbestos abatement had previously been done to the sixth and final floor of the building.
“When we were having the precipitation come through and some destruction to our roof, we didn’t have that concern here. [We’re] very lucky we had that done, otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” she continued. “I am concerned though about the rest of the building.”
Due to the potential for further damage to the office building, McNabb-Coleman announced plans to fast-track the building renovation project. After meeting with architects, a special legislature meeting will take place on February 20 where a presentation on the building and potential renovation options as well as a Q&A session will happen.
“We can start to talk about what are our options for this building; what does it look like. Let’s get the cost estimates and let’s get something moving,” McNabb-Coleman said.
The building was closed for several days following the January 9 storm.
