7,000-pound tree damages Essex library

ESSEX | A massive 7,000-pound tree fell on the Belden Noble Memorial Library in the Town of Essex during a thunderstorm, Sept. 7. The library sustained significant damage to the attic and roof. Essex Supervisor Ken Hughes said both the code enforcement officer and engineer determined the roof and attic will need to be replaced. There was a library board meeting taking place on the second floor when the tree fell. Everyone was all right. The first and second floors were undamaged, which Hughes accredits to the strength of the library's walls and overall structure. The Town of Essex Town Board held an emergency meeting, Sept. 14, to declare the state of the Belden Noble Memorial Library roof an emergency. Typically, the town's procurement policy, a set of guidelines the town follows when it needs to purchase a good or service, requires a competitive bidding process. New York state law requires a 15-day window for businesses to bid on the job. However, this policy allows exemptions for an emergency with time constraints. General Municipal Law 103(4) defines an emergency as "an urgent need affecting the health and safety of citizens, which requires immediate action, where the occurrence or condition is 'unforeseen.'" The law gives three criteria the situation needs to meet to be deemed an emergency: "the situation arises out of an accident or unforeseen occurrence or condition; public buildings, public property or the life, health safety or property of the political subdivision's residents are affected; and the situation requires immediate action which cannot await competitive bidding." Hughes said it fits all three of these criteria. This means that declaring the damage an emergency will allow the board to expedite the bidding process. They will still look for a competitive bid, just on a shorter timeline. The town has guidelines from Cedarwood Engineering for how to make the library up to code. They need to follow these guidelines for insurance to pay for it. Hughes said there have been discussions about how to rebuild the roof and attic in a way that keeps its 222-year-old design. "I am going to recommend we leave those decisions up to the experts, our code officer and our engineer," Hughes said. There is now a library restoration link on the Town of Essex website with the process timeline and a running total of expenses, to keep everyone informed. Hughes said he has not been given a formal timeline but meteorologically, it could be anywhere from three to eight months before the library is repaired. If the company that does the work can do it before winter it could be three months, but they may need to patch it and wait until spring, pushing it until April or March. In the meantime, the library is looking for a space to continue its lending, computer, and social program services. Hughes said that any constituents who have opinions on what they'd like to see happen with the roof can call his office. However, at the end of the day, the most important thing will be to make it up to code. "I want to make sure we are preserving what we can but also building a roof structure for the next 200 years."

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7,000-pound tree damages Essex library

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