Drippy Dilemma: $5.5M Public Works Building Leaks

For the past year, Public Works Director Mark Roberts has taken drives down Newlins Mill Road to watch a monstrous football stadium-like structure take shape.

And while Forks Township's new public works facility is supposed to be state-of-the-art and have all the bells and whistles that a $5.5 million structure should, some wonder when it will ever open.

That's because for the past six months or so, Roberts has been dealing with water-proofing leakage issues.

"Water-proofing is still not resolved," Roberts informed the board of supervisors at a recent meeting.

There was talk that the facility could open in October or November, but those months have long passed. Some municipalities are asking for a tour and to hold a meeting there in mid-June but even that might be iffy.

And township officials have had enough.

"Leakage is not going away. This keeps dragging on," Supervisor John O'Neil said. "This is a discussion we probably don't want to have."

"We need to say enough is enough," Supervisors Chairman Erik Chuss said.

Supervisors discussed possible legal ramifications and what were the board's options in not accepting a building with a high pricetag that has water damage.

"I put contractors on notice," Roberts said. "This is unacceptable. It needs to be remediated."

Supervisors decided to order the architect to appear before the board for Thursday night's work session.

But the architect isn't coming.

Architect Martin D. Kimmel of Kimmel Bogrette Architecture said Thursday that the "issues that the board has been confused and concerned about have been resolved."

Chuss also said Thursday that he received an update and that the architect and contractor say they have remediated the water leak.

He said they will be monitoring the situation for the next few weeks and will let township officials know if the leakage issue has been resolved.