Fire marshal and building inspector cite cracked roof beam, unstable roof masonry and other hazards; staff to work remotely pending engineering review

By Steve Mitchell, Ashland.news

The city fire marshal closed the Ashland City Hall office building on Ashland Plaza on Tuesday, Feb. 17, after a January inspection found the building unsafe to occupy.

The building at 20 East Main St. cannot be used until a licensed structural engineer can conduct an evaluation, according to a Wednesday, Feb. 18, city of Ashland news release.

The city’s administrative staff will work remotely until officials set up temporary offices, according to the city’s website.

The two main safety concerns include a cracked roof support beam in the attic, according to Fire Marshal Mark Shay’s general fire inspection dated Tuesday, Feb. 17. Shay wrote that a wooden rafter had split in two, potentially weakening the roof structure.

Shay, who received a copy of the code inspection report from City Manager Sabrina Cotta and then physically inspected the building himself, wrote that the building inspector, who inspected the structure on Jan. 16, found the roof itself in poor condition, which has “multiple areas of concern,” including “areas of buckling,” “decay and disrepair,” and “extreme granule loss with several past patch work.”

As a result, Shay wrote, nobody is allowed in the building when there is snow or ice on the roof.

The building’s overall construction also raises concerns, according to the building code inspection. The building walls are made of “unreinforced masonry,” brick walls without steel reinforcement, a construction type that is known not to hold up during an earthquake, according to the building code inspection report.

The inspector wrote that a previous seismic evaluation report found several other structural weaknesses in the roof and wall connections and supports. However, no new engineering analysis was done as part of the latest inspection, according to the building code inspection.

Other issues included possible asbestos, cracking and aging brickwork outside the building, old electrical wiring, rodent droppings in the attic, and multiple unsealed wall penetrations that could allow pests to enter the building.

What’s next?

City spokesperson Dorinda Cottle said officials commissioned the building code inspection report as part of the city’s legal proceedings to obtain the deed to City Hall, which the city says it has owned since 1884. The property was deeded to the city by John R. and Mary Helman with specific conditions, including that the City Hall and adjoining Plaza must be used as a public square, town hall, and jail. If the city doesn’t meet those conditions, ownership of the property may revert to the Helman heirs, according to a staff report from a study session in October.

The city initiated a lawsuit in November and has been in contact with the Helman heirs to resolve the title issue and eliminate the risk to the deed. Cottle directed Ashland.news to the city’s website for the status of the legal proceedings. The webpage says “the City Attorney’s Office has been in communication with the Helman heirs and is working with their legal counsel to resolve the title issue” and “Updates will be posted here as they become available.”

Meantime, Cottle said the city intends to contract with a licensed structural engineer. She said the engineer’s report will inform how the city moves forward.

The city’s webpage notes that immediate costs to repair the building could run has high as $359,000.

Mayor Tonya Graham said in a Wednesday, Feb. 18, email that until the city receives an engineer’s report, the costs will remain unclear. She said the City Hall building has been a significant part of the city’s broader discussion about its facilities master plan.

In a Wednesday, Feb. 18, email, Shay said it will be up to an engineer to determine how safe City Hall is.

“As the fire code official, it’s my role to identify a potential hazard and then direct more specialized personnel to further evaluate the hazard,” he wrote. “Whether the roof could cave in will need to be determined by the structural engineers.”

Shay wrote in his report that an engineer must assess the roof’s safety before normal occupancy can resume. If repairs are needed, permits must be obtained through the City of Ashland Building Division.

Meantime, city staff may only enter the building briefly to retrieve essential items. No one is allowed in the building when there is snow and ice on the roof.

“Snow and ice on the roof is specifically mentioned because it adds additional weight to what is potentially an already compromised roof,” Shay wrote in an email to Ashland.news.

When it’s necessary for people to enter the building after the snow and ice clear, someone must remain outside to track who comes in and out and limit the number of people inside at any given time, according to Shay’s report.

About 13 city employees work at City Hall, including the city manager, human resources, the city recorder, and the attorney, according to the city’s webpage.

Ashland voters resoundingly rejected, with a 69% “no” vote, a ballot measure in the spring of 2020 for $8.2 million in general obligation bonds to finance City Hall, Pioneer Hall, and Community Center capital projects (to view the voter pamphlet, click here and go to page 15-16).

Mayor Tonya Graham said in a Wednesday email that it was unfortunate the effort to pass a bond landed in front of the voters in the first months of the pandemic. That was the best time to make the needed repairs to the building — and it was the least expensive construction opportunity for those repairs, she said.

The costs of repairing and maintaining City Hall are high, according to the city. However, Graham and City Councilor Gina DuQuenne have both expressed concerns about leaving landmark buildings, such as City Hall, empty.

“What is clear from the events of the last two days is that it is time for the Ashland community to decide what role our City Hall building has (or doesn’t have) in our civic life moving forward,” she said. “And set that plan into action.”

Graham said her office hours at City Hall are canceled until a new venue can be established. The city will post the new information on its website as soon as they figure out new locations.

Email Ashland.news Associate Editor Steve Mitchell at stevem@ashland.news. Ashland.news Executive Editor Bert Etling contributed to this report.

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