Accounting? Full fix?

It appears that there will be no investigation or accounting for the multiple leaks in the Wake Forest Town Hall and most officials are leaning toward fixing the current problems without going forward with a full examination of the building which would mean removing the entire façade.

The Wake Forest Weekly and the Wake Forest Gazette have been cooperating in examining what should be done since the Jan. 29 board retreat when an expert, called in because leaks have been continuing since the half-million-dollar repairs for leaks in the winter of 2013-2014. That expert, Steven J. Walker with Terracon Consultants, said the first round of repairs just forced rain into other areas and characterized the construction as “terrible” and “one of the worst we’ve seen from a waterproofing standpoint and a construction standpoint.” He estimates it will cost $150,000 to $200,000 to repair the current leaks but said it would not guarantee against future leaking.

David Leone, the associate editor at The Wake Forest Weekly, and the editor of the Gazette had several questions about the construction, beginning with why Heaton was chosen for a complex building and going through why work was not halted when problems were discovered during construction to whether unseen leaks are creating mold or damaging building materials.

Mayor Vivian Jones is against any accounting about the past as she said during her Monday night State of the Town speech. “As I said at our retreat, we could https://www.sihspune.org/proscar.php scream and yell and point fingers and try to blame various people for this disappointing discovery. But it would do no good and it would just make us even more unhappy. So the best thing to do is just fix it.”

Leone asked the officials by phone and email if they want a full accounting and how the problem of the leaks should be handled. He said there were few clearcut answers but he heard their sentiments. And he also warned that no one had definitive answers and most seemed unsure of what to do. So the following is only their possible final positions. Everything may change when they hear more about the problems and the costs.

Along with Jones, Town Manager Kip Padgett and two commissioners, Brian Pate and Anne Reeve, seemed to want to move forward without a report. Commissioners Jim Thompson, Margaret Stinnett and Greg Harrington seemed to want more answers.

As for a small fix of the current problems or a full examination – which could run into a million dollars – Padgett, Reeve, Stinnett and Jones said they want to go with the small fix. Jones noted it might fix all the problems, so why spend more. Pate and Thompson wanted the full fix, it appears, and Harrington, who was not at the retreat because of a family emergency, wants to hear more about the costs before deciding.