Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The LaGrange City Council has approved a $100,000 budget amendment to address long-ongoing leaking concerns near the front of city hall.

When there are heavy rains, the first floor of the building has a lot of issues with water seeping in along the front side of the building, said Assistant City Manager Bill Bulloch.

The city has dug up the front and waterproofed both walls where the water is leaking twice but when there is extensive rain, the water continues to seep in.

City Manager Meg Kelsey said there is a big void under the front steps, which staff believes is the problem.

Bulloch said staff believes that the front steps were installed incorrectly, leading to a void underneath and potentially between that cavity and the interior walls. When LaGrange has substantial rain, the water comes well into the building, he said.

“We’ve done every single thing we can think of to correct that except for replacing the steps,” Bulloch said.

The plan is to remove the steps and fill in the cavity to further waterproof the front wall.

Bulloch said that they have done some exploratory work and gotten some quotes. The repair project is expected to cost around $100,000.
The plan is to keep the current aesthetics of the front steps.

The council later unanimously approved an increase of $100,000 to the budget to pay for the repairs. While the project is under construction, visitors can still enter city hall through the utilities customer service entrance on the first floor.