SIDNEY -- Cheyenne County is seeking contractors who can update the roof on the courthouse building.

Cheyenne County Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Tom Payne said the roof need significant repairs.

"I don't think it's any secret our roof leaks. You walk into just about any office in the building and see that," Payne said.

Payne met with the commissioners to get permission to seek bids for replacing the roof, and to decide what the county wants from a contractor. He said there are multiple options in addressing the roof repairs.

"There's a lot of low spots. It puddles. There's standing water on the roof right now. There's a lot of low spots, and that water works its way through the spray rubber, and it goes through the foam and it gets to the original 1966 stramit which is just packed straw all wrapped in brown paper. And that saturates. Then it just coming into offices, makes a pretty good mess," he said.

He said he met with four different flat roof experts; there are a lot of options on how to repair the roof.

"The new roofing styles ... what I'm seeing and most are recommending is what they call a 'TPO' roof. It's a Thermo Plastic Polyolefin. It's essentially a harder plastic that they melt together to make one seamless roof surface," he said.

Payne and the commissioners discussed how to seek proposals. A request for bids letter is published on the Cheyenne County Buildings and Grounds Facebook page. The letters seeks the removal and disposal of the Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) and installation of a new Thermoplastic Olefin roof or Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) roof. Sealed bids will be accepted through Nov. 25, 2024. 

Contact Tom Payne, Buildings and Grounds Superintendent, at 308-249-4257, or tom.payne@cheyennecountyne.gov to view the existing roof.