Insurance to cover most of $1.9 million North Falmouth Elementary roof repairs, town manager says

Town Manager Renshaw told the Select Board on Monday that engineering evaluations identified structural issues with wooden trusses at North Falmouth Elementary and that preliminary repair costs were estimated at about $1.9 million. Renshaw said the town’s insurer, Maya, retained an engineer who determined that two-thirds of the roof — two of three roof segments as defined by the engineers — was damaged by storms and snow load and will be covered by insurance. "Insurance will cover two thirds of the cost of the 1,900,000," Renshaw said.

Renshaw said staff are awaiting a final determination on the remaining third of the roof; the insurance review of that section could take about a week. Because the town learned that insurance would cover a significant portion of the work, Renshaw said he removed a previously scheduled request to call a special town meeting to appropriate the full estimated amount from the board’s agenda. "When we learned on Friday morning that insurance is gonna cover up a significant portion of those costs, I made the decision to remove the select board's consideration for the called special town meeting from the agenda," he said.

Renshaw said school-department staff and the district’s engineer have been working with the town and the insurer; he credited Paul Dartz and school staff for coordinating evaluations and follow-up. He also said that, should the insurer decline coverage for the remaining segment, the town will notify the Select Board and community and return to the question of funding. The town plans to relay any new information to the public as soon as it is available.

Background: Renshaw said structural issues were first noted on April 23; two rooms have been impacted and the town and school department are assessing repairs and interim safety measures. No funding appropriation was taken at the meeting.