Police radio destroyed after building's roof is damaged

A section of the roof over the Scott City Police Department collapsed sometime Sunday night, taking out the city's dispatching base radio.

Scott City Police Chief Don Cobb informed the Scott City Council of the incident Monday night at the council's regular bi-monthly meeting.

During the night a hole opened up in the sheet metal layer that forms one of the roof's support layers. The collapse was directly above a room housing the city's base radio used for emergency communications. A large amount of water leaked from the hole and destroyed the radio.

The topmost layers on the roof have no hole in them, said city administrator Ron Eskew, but they are sagging. Cobb and Eskew said the breach was caused by rust on the sheet metal combined with the presence of an air conditioner on the roof. Cobb said the ceiling in the room had never leaked until the collapse.

The city's emergency communications are being routed through a small back-up radio. Cobb said communications can't reach outside the city limits, so emergency dispatching is being routed through the Scott County E-911 communications center.

"We're talking about a delay of just a few seconds," Cobb told the council.

The radio expense will come out of the police department budget, while roof repairs will come out of the city's capital improvement fund. Insurance may cover those expenses, which will include $25,000 to $35,000 for the radio, Eskew said.

Not enough council members were present to conduct any official business Monday night.

Emergency funds will be used to replace the radio and repair the roof for now, Eskew said.

The roof should be repaired today, while the radio will be replaced within two or three days, Eskew said.

Councilmen John Crail, Jeff Curnell and Ron Worl were absent, leaving only five council members at the meeting.

Councilman Robert Tyler served in the capacity of mayor pro tem since Mayor Tim Porch was absent, leaving the council one short of the required five voting members to conduct official business.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182