By DAVE SCHULTZ
Work began Friday to repair rooms and offices in Bluffton’s City Hall which were damaged during a deluge April 30 and May 1.
A Wells County contractor, Steve Handyman, started to repair the damage to the city clerk-treasurer’s office as owner Steve Gaskill and his daughter Avery were on the scene Friday. The four employees of that office have been working out of the first-floor conference room used most often by the Board of Public Works and Safety, which has created some cramped conditions.
Jon Oman, the city’s operations manager, said that was the reason the clerk-treasurer’s office was chosen as the place to start. “Those ladies love each other, but it’s not been good for four of them to be in a 20’ by 20’ room,” he said.
Mayor John Whicker’s office was damaged less significantly than the clerk-treasurer’s office was. The private office of Clerk-Treasurer Tami Runyon sustained heavy damage from the water.
The heavy rains of April 30 and May 1 were held up by a soft drink cup that clogged a drain on the roof of City Hall. The water eventually forced its way down the interior of the east wall of the building.
Repair work will cost $60,000, Oman said, a price that will be entirely picked up by insurance.
In addition to what was done to the first-floor offices, some second-floor rooms used by the Parks Department for crafts instruction and file storage rooms also sustained water damage.
Oman said the work will take between three and four weeks to complete.
daves@news-banner.com
