Milton Committee to Study Roof Leaks

MILTON – An item on the Town Board’s agenda for its March 15 meeting stirred up a debate that has dragged on in Milton for many years.

Apparently, the board chose not to replace a stained carpet in the Town Court because the condition of the building’s roof is getting worse.

Milton Supervisor Dan Lewza had invited Jason Miller, the town’s buildings and grounds spokesman, to comment on a board motion to obtain estimates for replacing the carpet.

Recently, a sewage leak in the town complex had soiled the carpet to the point of making life routinely unpleasant for visitors and Town Court staff. 

“What they need is a new court,” Miller responded. The town board, he said, needs “to really figure out what’s going on with the buildings.”

“Every single roof on this building leaks,” Miller stated at the board’s February 15 meeting.

Lewza explained that Councilman Benny Zlotnick, chairman of the board’s Facilities Committee, would address such issues in earnest starting on Monday, March 20.

“We’ve got to get the roof situation under control before we do anything else,” Lewza said this week.

The board proceeded to vote down a motion to obtain estimates for replacing the Town Court’s carpet. Zlotnick and Councilwoman Barbara Kerr were the only two members in favor.

According to Kerr, at least a couple of estimates for that job had already been given, totaling no more than $5,000.

For years, Kerr added, town staff members and residents have been pressuring Supervisor Lewza to address general maintenance problems at the town complex, including a full replacement of the roof.

Miller indicated that an estimate was given in 2014 for the roof project, whose cost exceeded $47,000.  

But all such problems are complicated by a lack of resources in Milton to address them. 

“I know there’s a lot of issues,” Kerr said, noting how “there’s so many patches” on the roof at the town complex. “I also want a good plan of how it’s going to be financed.”

“We don’t have anything put aside for it,” Kerr continued, referring to Milton’s $6.7 million annual spending budget. Any funding would need to be obtained through borrowing, she said, which itself necessitates a drawn-out public approval process. 

“To me, this is a five- to 10-year projected thing,” Kerr said.