Mental health board discovers roof committee doesn't exist

PERKINS TWP. -- The local mental health board's roofing committee doesn't exist anymore, so board members have had to reboot efforts to fix their new building's roof.The board agreed to ask local architect John Feick of Feick Design Group Inc. to seek requests for proposals to fix the roof. Feick has been supervising work on the building to get it ready for the board.The Mental Health Board of Erie and Ottawa County has begun holding its regular monthly meetings in a former Civista Bank building at 1907 E. Perkins Ave., which it moved into earlier this year.Armed with a $62,571 check it received from Cincinnati Insurance Companies to cover the cost of fixing wind damage, the board had named a two-person committee to study options for fixing the roof, board members Ron Guerra and Rob Quinn.Both have left the board because their terms expired. The roofing committee seems to no longer exist, board member Jim Sass pointed out at the board's Tuesday evening meeting.Quinn will be reappointed soon to a full four-year term on the board, Erie County commissioner Matt Old said Tuesday. Commissioners are working on finding a replacement for Guerra, Old said.Sass observed that it's the middle of July, and the board needs to get going on the roof."I agree with you, Jim, we need to move on this roof," board member Sam Artino said.During discussion, board members agreed to try to keep the cost below what's available from the insurance check and to ask for alternatives that would include demolishing the former bank's drive-through area. On the voice vote, the board agreed to ask Feick to send out the requests for proposals.The new Mental Health and Recovery Board of Erie and Ottawa Counties building at the former Civista bank on Perkins Avenue needs a new roof.