A consultant has seven recommendations to repair serious defects in the exterior of Wrangell’s Public Safety Building. Wrangell Borough Manager, Lisa Von Bargen called some of the repairs recommended by Jensen Yorba Lott life-safety issues during last week’s assembly meeting.
“There is a north wall concealed gutter assembly that is failing and is completely structurally unstable and that’s the life-safety issue that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.”
The borough hired Jensen Yorba Lott to assess the building after discovering that the building’s exterior sheeting was rotten.
Public Works Director Amber Al-Haddad said if the gutter assembly problem isn’t addressed, it could fall. The borough has put up a concrete wall to keep people away from the area.
Von Bargen said the parapet wraps for the building’s membrane roof also need to be replaced and there are defective materials inside the building’s walls. She said part of the problem is that the wrong materials were used in a past building update.
“I don’t know who was responsible for the replacement of those materials for that fix, but because the plans weren’t followed, we’ve had significant leakage and water damage because of those perforations – because stuff wasn’t installed appropriately.”
Von Bargen said other suggestions on the consultant’s list include replacing siding and windows for the west and east walls, repairing siding on the north wall and replacing all other siding and windows. She said the consultants cautioned against doing the work in phases because it would likely lead to more damages.
Von Bargen promised to provide the assembly with a plan to address the building defects as soon as possible.
Al-Haddad said she should have a cost-estimate for the work by the end of the week.