Summit Hose Company, one of Tarentum’s three fire departments, could be getting a new roof courtesy of the borough.
Or, more accurately, half of a roof.
Council on Friday voted 5-0 to spend up to $22,499 to replace the shingled part of the station’s roof at 321 W. Seventh Ave.
Councilwoman Carrie Fox abstained, and Councilman Brian Snyder was absent.
“The longer we let it go, it becomes a health and safety issue,” Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said.
Half of the roof was replaced, with metal, with borough tax dollars several years ago.
“The other half, not surprisingly, has started leaking. We want to get this done sooner rather than later,” he said. “The concern is that we don’t want our fire department with a roof caving in.”
The building is owned by the borough and maintained by the fire department.
Chief Josh Fox said he reached out to council to stave off any damage to the equipment.
“It’s starting to leak, and we’d like to get this taken care of,” he said. “A lot of little things we’ve paid for out of our own pocket. But for costly repairs like that, we have to let the borough know.
“That kind of expense can be detrimental to a volunteer department.”
Boddorf said contractors had initial concerns with the work because the siren is on top of the fire hall.
It’s undecided if the fire whistle will have to be removed, Boddorf said.
“Do we have room to put a pole in the ground and mount the siren on that?” Councilman Brian Nolan asked.
“That would get it off the roof altogether. We can run new wire and solve the structural issue.”
