Replacing the roof at Sam-O Swim Center, the Baker City-owned swimming pool, will cost almost $100,000 more than city officials initially expected, according to a report to city councilors.

Councilors will consider a proposal to hire a Washington contractor during their regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St.

Premier Roofing of Richland, Washington, has bid $537,000.

The city has budgeted $450,000 for the work.

That includes $300,000 from the Sam-O Fund, which receives about $100,000 annually in property taxes, as well as $150,000 from the city’s share of federal COVID-19 aid.

City officials have been planning to repair or replace the leak-prone roof at Sam-O, 580 Baker St., for a few years.

In October 2024 councilors agreed to spend $96,000 to install roof caps to prevent water from damaging walls, with a goal of replacing the roof in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2025.

City Manager Barry Murphy asked the city’s consultant, The Garland Company of Cleveland, to solicit bids to repair the roof.

According to a letter to the city from Whit Collins of The Garland Company, company workers in June 2024 took a 3-foot by 3-foot sample of the roof to examine the construction.

At that time, Collins wrote, he believed the roof deck was built with a hot asphalt vapor barrier. New layers of insulating and roofing membrane would be applied to that vapor barrier, according to Collins’ letter.

But later last summer, workers took a larger sample, 12-foot by 12-foot, to check the condition of the existing vapor barrier.

During that inspection, employees from The Garland Company found that the existing barrier was “not actually a proper vapor barrier and was just a nailed asphaltic base sheet pinned to the roof deck,” Collins wrote in his letter.

Because there is no proper vapor barrier, replacing the roof will require installing a new 1/4-inch gypsum cover board to the roof decking with locking impact nails, primer, a self-adhered vapor barrier and other layers of insulation and roofing.

“This additional scope is what drove the project over budget,” Collins wrote.

Premier Roofing was the lowest of three bidders. The other bids, also from out-of-county contractors, are for $710,000 and $743,000.

According to a report to councilors, a Baker City and a Pendleton contractor proposed repairs that didn’t meet the city’s goals.

In other business Tuesday:

• Councilors will consider approving a plan of action to correct problems the city’s auditor listed in the audit for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Councilors approved the audit by Dickey and Tremper LLP of Pendleton on Jan. 14.

The most significant problem is associated with the city’s transition to a new financial software system for water/sewer billing in 2023.

Murphy told councilors in October 2024 that the city, under the direction of finance director Jeanie Dexter, who formerly had that job for many years and recently returned to it, has been addressing the software problems.

• Councilors will discuss setting goals for the next several years.

Murphy has asked councilors to fill out a worksheet, which will guide a discussion during a work session that will be scheduled later.

• Councilors will consider a resolution naming Crossroads Carnegie Art Center as the Local Arts Agency as defined by the Americans for Arts. Crossroads is already listed as the Local Arts Agency by the state of Oregon and the Oregon Arts Commission, but the city council has not approved a formal resolution.

The resolution would make Crossroads more competitive in applying for certain grants through the National Endowments of the Arts, according to a report to councilors.

The resolution has no monetary effect on the city.

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.

WHERE: City Hall, 1655 First St.

ONLINE: Link to video of meetings at bakercity.com/2293/Meeting-Materials-Webcasts