The roof at Carthage City Hall began leaking last year. Water ran into the building and around several windows on the upper floor.
Mayor Jim Nightingale contacted the contractor, Five Star Commercial Roofing of Indiana, to get the repairs under warranty.
The contractor promised to send someone to look at the situation last November. No one came.
He said the company gave him "the runaround. " He explained the company failed to return phone calls. It ignored faxes. Nightingale also said the company repeatedly claimed the city failed to file the proper paperwork. Paperwork he said the city produced each time the company requested it.
The city attorney threatened legal action.
Finally, the mayor enlisted a higher power.
He said, “I finally had to go through the attorney general, Lisa Madigan, and file a complaint against them. And when they got that complaint they called us.”
The work was completed last week. Nightingale said it consisted of cutting out and repairing five bubbles and other minor repairs. They took the roofer 90 minutes to complete.
The mayor said the city will not have to pay for the repairs.
The roof is under a five-year warranty. It was installed in 2009 at a cost of $14,000.