WILLIAMSBURG — A $2,532,759 project to restore and replace the roofs on the Williamsburg elementary and high school buildings was unanimously approved during Tuesday’s Williamsburg Community School Board meeting.

According to Superintendent Lisa Murgas, the majority of the current high school roof is more than 20 years old, with the oldest sections installed 27 years ago. The elementary school roof is of similar age, she said.

The Garland Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, was selected as project manager after a bid process which saw fellow Ohio contractor Tremco Roofing submit a competitive bid, Murgas said.

Both companies conducted walk-through inspections of the roofs on both buildings and submitted bid proposals, which included labor and material costs.

Although both bids were similar in cost, district administrators chose Garland due to the higher quality materials and warranty Garland offered, she said.

The new multi-system roof will be warrantied for a period of 30-35 years, Murgas said.

Garland will employ Mid-State Roofing of Belleville as the general contractor.

The school district has had growing issues with leaks in recent years, according to Murgas, with the locker room particularly hard-hit.

The board approved an additional $10,000 outlay for Garland contractors to address several of the most degraded sections of the high school roof as a stopgap measure to see the building through to the summer, when the project will begin in full force.

Murgas said she expects all work on both buildings to be complete before the start of the 2025-26 school year.

On the elementary school building, Garland will use Fluid Applied Roofing to restore the majority of the current roof, with the front edge and perimeter using a Standing Seam Metal Roof system.

For the high school building, almost all of the current rubber roof system will be replaced with a Fluid Applied system, with a small portion of the roof retained and bolstered by the new system, with the perimeter areas using Standing Seam, like the elementary building.

“That is taking care of all the roofing systems, and not having to worry about any of that,” Murgas said.

A small portion of the project cost will be covered by district capital, with the remaining financed by a bond issuance.

Later in the meeting, Murgas explained that the ongoing efforts to update the district’s website have been delayed, with the new site anticipated in late January 2025.