Arena roof plans change again Bid rules scuttle a planned membrane covering By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle A proposal for a membrane roof for the Brown County Arena fell victim to a legal block Wednesday. A technicality kept the county from accepting an option approved by the Educcation and Recreation Committee for a TPO membrane roof with a 10-year warranty. Facilities Director Bill Dowell said he had "dropped the ball" by not realizing that the county could not accept an optional bid that replaced something in the original specifications. Instead, the county will have to accept another bid from JT Roofing of Saukville which includes other products. The bid was the only one that met specifications. "It's a lesser product," Dowell said of the approved covering. The project will put a new covering on the existing roof and repair gutter problems in the 46-year-old building. The project will cost $218,000, which is in the county's budget. The County Board was to vote on the matter Wednesday, but had not taken it up as of The News-Chronicle's deadline. Several supervisors urged the committee to turn down all bids and re-bid the project, changing specifications to allow the new material. But committee members said a re-bid would take two months, delaying any project completion until spring. Sup. Guy Zima urged the committee to look at a longer-term project, 20 years, rather than the 10 approved by the committee. He suggested the additional cost could be covered by a ticket tax. The county has money set aside for the immediate plan. But chairman John Vander Leest said uncertainty about the future of the arena led the committee to ask for a short-term solution. The arena's operator, PMI, has a seven-year lease with additional options. "The 20-year warranty would almost double the cost," Vander Leest said. PMI president Ken Wachter said the arena was used 173 days last year, 114 of them by rent-paying organizations. - The County Board voted to support turning authority for the Fox River navigational channel south of the Georgia-Pacific West Mill over to Georgia-Pacific. The move is a step toward leaving the channel depth at 6 feet which is not deep enough for anything but small craft and barge traffic. There is no commercial port use of that part of the river. Opponents said it would cut options for dealing with toxic PCBs that are in that part of the river by leading to capping the sediment. Supporters said it would still leave options open. - The board saluted Wisconsin State Patrol officer Les Boldt and Brown County Sheriff's Dept. Sgt. Bill Morgan and Deputy Kevin Kinnard for their work in rescuing a suicidal woman on the Leo Frigo Bridge July 29. The officers received standing ovations from the board and onlookers.