The Tipp City Government Center was built in 1988, acting City Manager Brad Vath said Monday, and the roof was replaced sometime between 1999 and 2000 by a Springfield-based company called Field and Associates. “It’s a flat roof,” Vath said, “and generally there are leaking problems with flat roofs.”

Vath said he did not know how many leaks have developed, noting that they first showed up about two or three years after the replacement roof was installed. “When I walked through this morning, I saw two locations where it leaks,” he said.

“Usually a seam is what’s leaking,” he added. “We go up and repair the leak with our own in-house staff. If another one comes up, we do the same thing.”

Workers have been forced to use buckets to catch the leaks recently, since maintenance staff cannot fix the roof when it is wet. “That’s why you saw buckets sitting there,” Vath said, “because we had rain or snow on the roof and it’s got to be dry before we can repair leaks.”

Replacement of the roof is not included in the city’s current five-year capital

improvement plan, Vath explained, although the plan is subject to evaluation every year. “It is not budgeted to be replaced at this point,” he said. “I’m sure it will be a discussion point, as it was with last year’s CIP.”

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