Ebensburg borough council OKs roof contract

Sports Interiors chosen to address community center condensation issues

EBENSBURG -- Borough officials approved a $65,435 bid from Sports Interiors to address condensation in layers of the Young Peoples Community Center's roof during the Ebensburg Borough Council meeting Monday.

According to councilwoman Theresa Jacoby, the center, located along Prave Street, is experiencing moisture problems that are getting worse. Borough officials put out a bid last month for a ceiling liner membrane that will prevent the thermal barrier from being compromised, she said, noting Sports Interiors was the only company that submitted a bid for the work. The work is being scheduled for mid-September and is expected to take one week to complete.

Council President Doug Tusing said borough officials believe the issue is limited condensation in the roof. But it's difficult to tell, he said.

"We don't feel that it's a leak in the roof itself. It's the same situation that we had at the tennis center," Tusing said, noting there aren't any mold or mildew issues at the center. The problem is water dripping onto some court surfaces.

Last year, the council hired Sports Interiors to line the Ebensburg Tennis Center's ceiling with a membrane, which resolved moisture issues there, borough officials said.

At the tennis center, outside moisture rose up, froze to the center's roof and then saturated the insulation and dripped onto the floor whenever a sunny day occurred, former recreation director Dirk Johnson told the Mirror last year.

Tusing said the same thing is happening now at the Young Peoples Community Center. Council members are confident that the work done by Sports Interiors will resolve the ongoing issues, he said.

Also during the meeting, borough resident Chrissy Kauffman addressed the council, requesting an appeal to the borough's livestock ordinance, allowing her to keep four chickens at her property along East Crawford Street. The Kauffmans were cited with two fowl code enforcement property violations within the past month, according to the meeting's agenda.

Kauffman said their property is over 56,000 square feet on 1.3 acres of fenced land. The coop is located in the center of the property and can support six to eight chickens, Kauffman said.

"It's clean, sanitary and neighbors do support the chickens being there," Kauffman said. "The ordinance, I feel, was never intended to punish responsible neighbors. It was intended to give you discretion to prevent genuine nuisances."

The appeal was unanimously approved by officials, with councilman Robert Miller absent.

After the meeting, Kauffman said she was surprised, yet relieved, that she doesn't have to get rid of her chickens. She said the council's decision to approve her appeal was fair.

The chickens themselves are "just egg layers," she said.

In other business, the council approved hiring Jerry Poruban as the borough's acting public works director and increasing his pay to $29.81 per hour, which is equivalent to an approximate salary of $62,000, according to the meeting's agenda. Poruban has worked in the borough's public works department for five years but has served as the acting director for the past three weeks, he said during the meeting.

A vacancy exists for the public works director position, Jacoby said during the meeting. Staff recommends the job is posted at a rate of $65,000 to $85,000, dependent on the applicant's qualifications, experience and certifications, she said.

It's unclear whether former public works Director Josh Surkovich remains an employee of the borough. Surkovich was present at July's council meeting, but neither his resignation or termination was on the agenda for approval at Monday's meeting.

When asked about the status of Surkovich's employment and why Poruban wasn't appointed to fill the public works director position, Tusing said, "Those are both personnel issues that we're just not going to get into."