School takes financial hit with water damage
By Suzanne Werre
Editor
The Underwood School’s basement and gym floor took a hit from late June’s 5.5 inches of rain in two days, as ground water seeped through the foundation, pouring down the west wall down into the basement, as well as going up into the gym floor.
During Monday’s school board meeting, Supt. Brandt Dick updated the board members on the status of the gym floor, which surprisingly is in pretty good shape after nearly a month of drying out. What isn’t in good shape is the financial situation to cover the cost of the drying out and repair, which is probably going to run between $35,000 and $40,000 – and it looks like the school’s insurance will not cover it.
Since it looks like it was ground water seepage that caused the damage, rather than a pipe bursting causing flooding, said Supt. Dick, the State Fire and Tornado Fund will not cover the damage.
There is a question, however, about which water actually did the damage.
The Wednesday after the 5.5 inches of rain, the city suffered a water main break in the middle of the Summit Street in front of the school.
Supt. Dick informed the board that the city lost about 50,000 gallons of water before the water main was shut off, and that water from the main could have caused part of the damage to the school, and if so, the city’s insurance would be responsible. However, he added, there is no way to prove the water main break had anything to do with the damage.
