ST. PAUL - Although Town of St. Paul council opted not to move ahead with paving around the Reunion Station building this year to address some drainage issues, staff have taken a second look at the situation due to the state of the building.
Director of Public Works Steven Jeffrey reported to council that he was able to have a geotechnical specialist look at the building. Jeffrey brought his concerns forward during the May 25 council meeting, and presented information from the site inspection. Reunion Station is located at the St. Paul Soccer fields, and is used for a variety of public and private events throughout the year.
"There are some issues with the building," said Jeffrey. But, solving the issues will take time. He explained the soil is very saturated around the building, and has caused damage in all four corners of the building.
When the water in the ground freezes, it causes the piles in each corner to be pushed up, he said. The issues have now caused roof damage.
The town will have to extend roof drains and stabilize the soil before moving ahead with repairs. Paving the area around the building, at this time, would not be beneficial due to how saturated the ground is.
"At the time of inspection, it was noticed that the existing veranda support piles had heaved varying amounts, water was pooling surrounding the building, but mostly to the north of the building, and the interior floor slab has heaved slightly," reads a letter signed by Lanny Reichenbaugh of ENC Testing Inc.
The letter further reads, "Upon further review, it is evident that the problems noted on site are a result of water ingressing from the roof leaders, not being able to drain away from the building, and saturating the soils below the building. . . It is unclear whether heaving or frost jacking has occurred with the piles as there is no available information on how the piles were constructed."
Coun. Ron Boisvert made a motion to proceed with grading around the building, along with work around drainage infrastructure to drain water from the building. The motion also states that paving around Reunion Station would remain an item in the 2021 Capital Budget.
Boisvert, who was one of the councillors who originally brought the issue forward, said he wanted administration to be aware of the problem facing the building and was happy to hear an expert looked at it.
Jeffrey admitted that his personal opinion was much more "doom and gloom" but feels better after the geotechnical specialist spoke to him about it.
"It's pretty bad," said CAO Kim Heyman, speaking about the situation of the building.
When asked about the cost to do the work this year, Jeffrey said he believes that town can do the grading that will be required to start the process of drying out the area.
Council carried the motion made by Boisvert.
