Eddyville.Org

 The Root of the Roof Problem.

I think it is going to take more than the addition of a thick membrane on the outside of the roof to stop the condensation problem in the attic area of the old middle school building in Blakesburg. I could be wrong, and I hope that I am. Because, if I am right, it is going to cost a lot more to fix the moisture problem than what we have been led to believe.

When the condensation problem was discussed at a school board meeting some time ago, it was generally agreed that the problem was primarily due to warm air in the attic coming into contact with the metal roof in the cold months of the year. Dr. Cook suggested spraying the underside of the roof with a form-type of insulation to fix the problem. However, the architect thought that the membrane would be a better choice and there would be less chance of air reaching the dew point temperature. 

With roof moisture problems of ice buildup on the roof or condensation problems in the attic, there are primarily two causes. One is due to insufficient insulation and the other is due to a lack of air circulation in the attic area. Both proper insulation and air circulation are needed. At the time of this discussion, no one was aware that there were a number of fans installed throughout the attic and that the fans either were not working or had not even been turned on for an unknown number of years. In addition, there was no discussion at that time of also removing the thick layer of insulation above the ceiling tiles.

Previously, there had been discussion and approval for removing and replacement of the old ceiling tiles.  Again, there had been no discussion of removing the thick layer of insulation above the ceiling tiles. When the ceiling tiles and insulation were removed, the whole attic area and underside of the roof were clearly visible. It was then that it was discovered that there were numerous fans in the attic which no one seemed to have known existed. Maintenance personnel, school administrators and the architects were not aware of the existence of these fans and/or that the fans had not been operating for a number of years.

There are two attic exhaust fans on the south wall of the building. One on each side of the connector between the school and the gym. The fans are just above the ceiling tile level. These two fans, by themselves, were not adequate to properly circulate the air in the attic, and the heavy layer of insulation also impeded the flow of the air around the fans. It is evident, that some years ago, numerous smaller fans were added in the attic to provide the proper air circulation and eliminate any dead air space. Obviously, if the fans are not working or are not turned on, there will be circulation problems resulting in ice forming on the roof or condensation problems in the attic.

When I walked through the building on August 23^rd, the exhaust fans on the south wall were not turned on, but all the other fans in the attic were operating. It appeared that most of the attic fans had been replaced with new ones. It was a warm day and the air conditioning was turned on full blast even though the front door was wide open and there were only three people in the building. When I looked up into the attic, I could see occasional cracks of daylight coming in from the sides of the attic (the side walls between the ceiling tiles and the roof are not insulated.)

The addition of the membrane to the roof has been given the green light by the school board, and the work should be completed in November or early December at the latest. New ceiling tiles will be installed, but there are no plans to replace the previous thick layer of insulation above the ceiling tiles.

In my opinion, without a thick layer of insulation above the ceiling tiles, a lot of heat will be lost during the cold winter months which can result in some high heating bills. With all this warm air rising up into the attic, there may still be condensation problems. Whereas the roof may be insulated with the outside membrane layer, the walls or sides of the attic are not insulated. Also, other than the two attic exhaust fans on the south wall, there are no other outside vents in the attic.

Another problem may exist in the warm months when there is air conditioning. It is my understanding that when air conditioning was installed in the building around 1999 – 2001, there was a major condensation problem with the ceiling tiles. Because of the absorbed moisture, the tiles began to look like egg cartons. The tiles were replaced but additional insulation was added above the tiles to correct the moisture problem.

Now that there will not be any insulation above the ceiling tiles, this problem may reoccur. The cool air will come into contact with the warm attic air at the tile level, there will be condensation and the tiles will begin to look like egg cartons.

As I said at the start of this blog, I hope I am wrong.

Board Takes Piecemeal Approach to Avoid a Public Hearing.

Should E-B school district residents be concerned with how the decision was made to convert the Blakesburg Middle School into a grade school? Was there an official vote by the school board? Well, as it turns out, there never was a vote! On the other hand, the school board has “surreptitiously” given its implicit approval of this project, which will cost somewhere between one and two million dollars, and over $200,000 has already been spent or committed on this project.

Does it make any difference whether the residents of the district feel that this is not a wise decision, or money well spent? Does it make any difference whether the district's sales tax money could be spent more cost effectively on an alternative solution which would save over a million dollars, or that the money could be spent on other building projects which would benefit more students?

Previously, the school board had voted to demolish the middle school building and construct a brand new grade school on the same site for three million dollars. The public protested during a public hearing, but the school board did not listen; the public signed a petition to appeal this decision, but the the school board did not listen. It was only when bids for the project came in almost a million dollars more than what had been projected that the school board finally listened or decided that it would not be cost effective to build a new school for 89 certified enrolled students. Instead, the board decided to resurrect the idea it had formerly discarded as too expensive, and is going ahead with the remodeling of the old middle school building.

Many of the school district residents do not feel this is a financially sound decision when there are more cost effective alternatives. Will the public have a chance to express their views on the total project in a public hearing before money is spent on this project? The simple answer is, no; the spending has already started.

In fact, even after all this time and after parts of the project have been completed or contracted, the school board still has not come up with an official estimate for the total cost of this project. Instead, the project has been broken down into two segments; one is called “maintenance” and the other “public improvement.” Technically speaking, the so-called “maintenance” segment jobs can be contracted separately without bids or if they meet the bid threshold, then a public hearing and public bidding can be held separate and apart from the total project. According to the law, “maintenance” work does not have to be officially considered as part of the total remodeling project. However, a public hearing and public bidding will be required on the “public improvement” segment once that is started. This portion of the project will be delayed until the so-called “maintenance” segment is completed. And, of course, at that time, the projected cost to finish the remodeling (“public improvement”) will be much less than the total cost of the entire project which includes the “maintenance” costs.

This explains why Dr. Cook and the school board were in such a hurry to get started and to approve contracts on some of the maintenance projects back in April/May of this year. But, when I visited the Blakesburg school on August 23^rd, it was quite apparent that few of the "maintenance" projects had been completed or even started. In fact, the excavation for the tiling project around the school had just begun (and school was starting the next day); the classroom windows had not been removed or replaced with new windows; the ceiling tiles had been removed but new ones had not been installed; the painting of the interior of the building was not done; and the contract for installing the membrane on the roof had just been approved, etc.  So why was there such a hurry back in April/May, especially since the total project is not scheduled to be completed until August of 2013? Back in April/May, the school board was being asked to come up with a total estimated cost for the converting the middle school building into a grade school as compared to other alternatives. Instead, by going ahead with the piecemeal approach, the board has been able to give its tacit approval of the remodeling project without comparing the cost to other alternatives and without holding a public hearing.

(Next blog – more about the roof project.)

Little did I realize, on August 23^rd, when I walked through the open front door of the old Blakesburg middle school building with cool air blowing out, that I would be creating a sudden rise in the temperature on the top floor of the school administration building in downtown Eddyville. Why did this cause such a heated reaction by Dr. Cook? Did he really believe that I had entered the building “surreptitiously?” Obviously, he knew I made my presence known to everyone in the building, and that I was there for only a few minutes. Even the next day, things had not cooled down in the Eddyville administration building when he fired off his undated warning letter filled with mistakes and misstatements and he sent a copy of the letter to the Wapello County Sheriff? His whole letter was predicated on a false assumption and he made reference to wording which does not exist in a school policy and he cited trespass laws which were not applicable. As I had mentioned in a previous post, in the two days it took for him to talk with various people and prepare his official “warning letter,” he could have simply called me or had someone else call me, and the whole matter could have been cleared up in a matter of minutes. Instead, he chose this extreme measure. Why? I could speculate as to his personal motives, but I am not going to go there, On the other hand, was there something that he did not want me to see?

It was obvious to me that little work had actually been done at the old school building. Remember, the urgency of Dr. Cook and the school board to get started with some of the remodeling projects back in May. And this was before they even had a firm estimate on the total cost for converting the old middle school building into a grade school (and we still do not have a firm estimate of the cost). So why the urgency and why had there been so little done prior to the start of school on August 24? That will be the subject of a future blog.

As I had mentioned in “Part 2–Warning Letter … ,” I was walking around the building when I noticed something which came as a big surprise to me. In fact, it was contrary to what Dr. Cook had adamantly stated in a School Board meeting the week before. I noticed two attic ventilation fans on the south wall of the school, one on each side of the part of the building that connects with the gymnasium. Why would this be such a big surprise? Because, Dr. Cook had stated in a public hearing that there were no vents in the attic of that building. (The attic being the area between the roof and the ceiling tiles).

Back in June, all the ceiling tiles and the thick layer of insulation above the tiles had been removed in preparation for installing new ceiling tiles. It was at that time that workers discovered there were numerous fans in the attic which no one knew were there. Evidently, there had been a turnover of maintenance personnel over the years and this information had not been passed on, and the fans were either not working or had not been turned on for an unknown period of years.

On August 15, 2011, there was a public hearing on the proposed installation of a thick membrane on the metal roof. The main purpose of this membrane is to provide insulation on the top side of the roof to prevent condensation caused by the warm air in the attic coming into contact with the underside of the metal roof during the colder months of the year. At the public hearing, I had suggested that the cause of the condensation in the past may have been due to a lack of air circulation in the attic. In other words, with the heavy layer of insulation above the ceiling tiles, perhaps it was not necessary to install a $160,000 membrane on the roof because all it might take to eliminate the condensation would be to turn on the attic fans. Dr. Cook's reply was that there were no vents in the attic and the fans would just be circulating warm air. Therefore, according to him, the outside roof membrane was needed to prevent condensation, and the air circulation was not the problem. Dr. Cook even added that there has been a condensation problem ever since he has been superintendent. A logical question which should have been asked, but wasn't: if, indeed, a condensation problem has existed for the past eight years, then why wasn't the problem fixed way before now? Either the problem was not bad enough for Dr. Cook to worry about, or he did not want to put any money into the maintenance of that building.

After seeing the outside ventilation fans, I realized that Dr. Cook had misstated the facts when he said there “are no vents in the attic” of the middle school building. Because of this, I was curious as to what else could be seen from inside of the building since the attic area was clearly visible with the ceiling tiles removed. There was a contractor's truck outside and the front door to the building was wide open, so I walked in to take a look and talk with the contractor. (To be continued).

School Election Results -- September 13, 2011

E-B Election Results – Candidates in Districts #1, #3, #4, #5; Polling Location EEAC, Eddyville

E-B Election Results on Merger Question

Fremont Election Results on Merger Question
 

Total Merger Votes Cast =151 and Total Ballots = 151

Analysis of School Election Results  

There was a larger than usual turnout of voters for a school election, and it was due to the public measure on the merger question being on the ballot. This resulted in a much larger than usual vote for district directors. But not all electors who voted on the merger question voted for the candidate for the open director position in their district.
 

Eddyville-Blakesbu School District – Polling Location - EEAC

Eddyville-Blakesbug  School District – Polling Location – Blakesburg City Hall

Entire Eddyville-Blakesburg School District – Includes both Polling Locations

Fremont School District – All At-Large Voting (No Director Districts)

In the Eddyville-Blakesburg School District, there were 421 Electors Who Voted on the Merger.

Yes = 335;   79.57%     No = 86;   20.43%

In the Fremont School District, there were 151 Electors Who Voted on the Merger.

Yes = 91;     60.26%     No = 60;    39.74%