Tremco Roofing officials presented Jim Thorpe Area School District directors with an estimated $3.3 million plan Wednesday night that would see at least a portion of all three of its school roofs repaired and restored by 2027.

Most critical, Tremco’s Marshal Kiessling said, are repairs to wet spots found during recent infrared surveys at L.B. Morris and the high school.

“Overall, the condition of the district’s roofs is fair,” Kiessling said, “but we did find one wet spot at the high school and two at L.B. Morris. One spot was around an HVAC unit at L.B. and another was a puncture right through the roof. It’s small in scope right now but we don’t want that to spread and start multiplying.”

Tremco suggested fixing the wet spots and addressing some wind damage on the high school roof in the current fiscal year at a nearly $22,000 cost. Also suggested for 2023, according to the plan, is a restoration of an older part of the high school roof that is currently out of warranty.

“You want to look at restoring your roofs so you don’t have to replace them in the future,” Kiessling said. “As they continue to age, the less chance there is to restore them.”

The rest of Tremco’s long-term plan calls for restoring another 37,500-square-foot portion of the high school roof in 2024 at an estimated $875,000, a 33,500-square-foot portion of the L.B. Morris roof in 2025 at $804,000 and a 60,500-square-foot portion of the Penn-Kidder roof in 2026 at a cost of $1.45 million.

“I agree that taking care of this before we have to replace is the way to go, but with the way the economy is, we’ll have to work out some kind of budget,” director Paul Montemuro said. “We have to make all of these numbers work and figure out our dollar amount per year and how to make it work with Tremco’s schedule.”

Tremco officials said the coating work suggested for 2023 to deal with the wet spots and wind damage could be handled in the fall, even after students are back in session. The company estimated the repairs would take around two weeks to complete.

Board members said they would discuss the proposal during an August committee meeting before taking any action.

“We know it’s something we’re going to have to do,” Board President Scott Pompa said. “It’s pay me now or pay me later.”