Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in-person, typically with an online attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Sept. 26
- Council on Aging Board, 9:30 a.m.
- Board of Health, 3 p.m.
- Conservation Commission work session, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 2
- Community Preservation Act Committee, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 3
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
Conversation Starter
A Leaky Library
Near the end of Monday’s select board meeting, clerk Suzanne Bryan told the rest of the board that something had to be done about the leak in the roof of the library. “I thought new roofs weren’t supposed to leak that soon,” she said. The building underwent a $9.6-million renovation from 2014 to 2016.
“The roof was a problem almost immediately,” said Town Manager Jacqui Beebe, referring to the renovation, which she said had run “over budget and behind schedule.” She said that she had been “responsible for several letters and threats back and forth” regarding the building’s construction.
Beebe told the board that the warranty has expired and there is no obvious party responsible for fixing the leak. “There is no doubt in my mind that we are going to be asking for capital money to replace this roof,” Beebe said.
According to Beebe, leaks have been a problem “for five or six years” and have resisted the town’s attempts to stop them. She said that Nauset Construction, the renovation company, had made a series of free repairs to the roof, none of which solved the problem.
Although the library’s grooved roof, which is designed to carry rainwater into a central catch basin, has many fans, including Bryan, others on the board said they believed that the leak was a consequence of the design.
The library was designed by Oudens Ello Architecture of Boston. It was the recipient of the 2018 AIA/ALA Library Building Award, granted yearly by the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association to “the best projects in library architecture and design.” —Parker Mumford
