Montana Hall Roofing Updates

The End is in Sight!

North Entrance Closed 9/13/06

As you can see, we are nearing completion of the roof replacement project of Montana Hall.  The roofers need to move back to the north side of the building for some finish work - this will require the closure of the north entrance for a couple of days.

East Entrance Now Open

As you can see, the roofing materials have been removed from the south side of the building. The contractor is working hard to get that last side finished with the hopes of being completed before the start of classes.

The east entrance to Montana Hall is now open and the mechanical lift is accessible for those needing services in the building. There is currently construction in the basement, however, so please use caution as they have mats down to protect the carpet.

Southside Work Postponed, Part II

Once again the removal of the south side shingles has been delayed. Due to issues with the sprinkler/irrigation system, the roofing company will be unable to remove the roofing materials. The project will be moved back until next weekend (August 19-20) and along with it the air sampling that is to be conducted. Thank you for your patience.

Southside Work Postponed

As you can see, the roofing materials from the south side of Montana Hall were not removed over the weekend - irrigation/sprinkler issues caused a delay in the project. As of now, they anticipate this work being done next weekend (August 12-13). The air sampling that was to be conducted this morning will be rescheduled also. Heidi will keep us updated as soon as she knows more.

Work Begins on Southside

You will see the contractors covering the south facing windows of Montana Hall with plastic today. They plan to work this weekend to remove the shingles from the south side with the hopes of minimizing the disruption to the building occupants. Air sampling will be conducted in the building on Monday morning from approximately 8 - 11 am. Individual offices on each floor have been identified for the sampling sites.

If you have any questions about the project, feel free to contact me at 6600 or stop by 201 Montana Hall.

East Entrance Closed

The roofing project continues on the east side of Montana Hall.  Please be considerate of your coworkers when opening windows.  Equipment being used on the east end of the building may produce diesel fumes which could enter the building and bother others.

The north and west entrances are open and the east entrance is now closed.  Individuals needing the mechanical lift to access services/offices in Montana Hall are directed to the SUB Administration Office.  They will determine which office or individual to contact.  If you are contacted by staff in the SUB Administration Office, please make reasonable accommodations to meet the needs of our customers. If you need to use that entrance please call Ina Lou in the sub for assistance.  (x3082)

I have attached a table which includes all results from the air sampling that has been conducted from April 14 through July 3.  As you can see, the results are insignificant. 

As a reminder, please respect the safety barriers that are placed around the building.  Using the workzone as a shortcut could result in personal injury.

The West & North Entrances are now open.

Meeting Notes:

Here is a summary of the meeting and the notes that I took during the Re-Roofing meeting held by Heidi Gagnon, Laurie Bachar, Jeff Shada (both with MSU’s SRM) and Melissa Weglarz (with Tri Media-the external environmental company).

Contractor:  Maddox Construction, Great Falls – certified asbestos remover, will start within the next couple of weeks.

Roof will be replaced with new roofing materials as the old tiles are removed – one small section at a time with roof-level manbuckets utilized.  The old tiles will be gently removed (trying to avoid breakage), placed in a bag, put in the manbucket, lowered to a lined truck, then trucked away.  The contractor may be misting the roof and the truck contents as the day’s work progresses. The re-roofing is expected to take the entire time from start (April) to Sept – all depending on weather.  Apparently, the Sept 15 date is based on the project continuing as expected without any weather delays, etc.

The re-roofing will be accomplished by doing a section of the roof/building at a time.  They do not know which side of the building will be the starting point nor would they guesstimate how long each “section” would take. The building section will be tarped/covered with plastic from the roof line to the ground and during that time, no windows or air conditioning will be allowed in the section of the building. Hepa filter covers for the air conditioning vents was suggested, but we were told that DEQ would not allow them.  It was also suggested that no fire drills be held during the time that this work is being done – no promises there however.

External and internal air quality tests will be done prior to starting the project and done weekly as the work proceeds.  The results will be physically posted throughout the building and sent via e-mail to Heidi’s “building occupants” distribution list which includes at least two people from every office.  It was requested that both the results and the “normal/expected” limits be included in the notices. 

After the roofing work has been completed, Tri Media has been tasked to clean up the attic which will obviously not happen until fall. They will seal off the attic area with plastic sheeting from ceiling to floor (nothing put between floors) and require their workers to wear “coveralls” and masks while the work is being done.  The workers will be required to remove their coveralls/mask if they leave the attic area and move about the building. 

SRM assured everyone that there should be minimal dust/debris floating through, in or around the building during the roofing work, so they expect no outside debris/dust coming into the windows that are allowed open when another building section is covered.

If there will be any power outages, there is supposed to be a 72 hour notice.  Also, it was requested that Facilities/ITC look into preventing any computer problems during the heat of this project which will be a concern as the temperatures in the building rise.

When pressed, they agreed to look into providing alternate work areas on campus and possibly 5 work stations at SRM in the TechPark for employees who request to be relocated during this project.  They will discuss and get back with everyone.

As far as allowing people to work from home, it was hinted that, of course, that is up to the supervisor, but no monetary help to get folks set up at home to work was offered – of course, which logically would probably be pretty pricey – high-speed internet, computers, etc.

I asked specifically, I am assuming that if an employee asks to work from home or at an alternative work location that they will not be required to submit “sick” hours.  Heidi said, as long as they are working – No.

George Thompson is apparently the project leader from Facilities and he will be arranging weekly meetings with Facilities, Contractor, TriMedia and Heidi to discuss the progress of the project.