Town of Osoyoos council has approved spending up to $115,000 to repair two large sections of roof at the Sonora Community Centre.

Gerald Davis, the town’s director of community services, told members of council on Monday that there have been problems with water leaking through the roof for some time and those problems have only been exacerbated over the past few days following heavy rains. The repairs to the roof “need to be completed as soon as possible,” said Davis.

Heavy rainfall this past weekend resulted in some water leaking through the roof onto the main gymnasium floor, said Davis.

A recent report indicated the cost to repair the entire roof is up to $107,000 (plus GST), but two large sections of the roof where the tar and gravel are no longer providing proper protection need to be repaired right away.

Davis recommended that $60,000 from the 2016 budget that was originally directed to purchase “direct digital controls” for the Sonora Centre be used to pay for roof repairs.

Mayor Sue McKortoff also announced Monday that a $35,000 study that was approved last year to look at possibly closing the Osoyoos Airport and repurposing the land the town owns for industrial use has been scrapped. Council approved a motion to take that $35,000 in funding and use it on roof repairs at the Sonora Centre.

Council also approved a third motion that chief administrative officer Barry Romanko be allowed to spend an additional $20,000 in emergency contingency funding in the 2016 budget should that money be needed for the roof repairs.

The full cost of roof repairs won’t be known until “the roof is torn off and we get to look and see at what’s underneath,” said Davis.

Davis said he would have a detailed report about the overall costs for roof repairs in time for the next meeting of town council on Monday, Nov. 7.

If the repairs are deemed to be an emergency situation, Romanko has the authority to spend the money needed to get the repairs done without having to go through an official tender process.

Jim Zakall, the town’s director of financial services, said delaying roof repairs knowing there are problems with leaks would put the town in a precarious situation with its insurance company.

“Our insurance would be null and void if we don’t act on this,” he said.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times