Due to the appropriation of $132,000 in state bond funding, the final phase of a roofing project at Deep River Elementary School (DRES) was scheduled for completion during the school’s Labor Day holiday weekend.

The town has been allocating monies each fiscal year and working with a contractor annually to replace different sections of the school’s roof for at least the last five years, according to First Selectman Angus McDonald. The last remaining sections include a flat portion of roofing above the school library.

“So, they’ll do the work when the children aren’t on-site, which of course is of value to us,” said DRES Principal Lauren Feltz, who joined state and local officials as they toured the perimeter of the school to discuss the project on Aug. 31.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to be able to get money for our towns,” said State Representative Christine Palm (D-36). “While $132,000 isn’t a huge amount, it has finished this project which was years in the making. And it’s especially gratifying that it’s a project that directly benefits students and teachers and preserves an old building.”

The process to obtain the funding took “about six months,” said Palm. “When the bonding cycle begins, it gives us a couple of months to work with selectpeople and our municipal leaders to figure out what the town needs.”

The funds were approved at the State Bond Commission’s first meeting of the fiscal year, on July 23.

“It’s great that we’re able to get some bond money for them to redo the roof,” said State Senator Norman Needleman (D-33). “It’s been held together for a long time the old-fashioned way, with duct tape and chewing gum, and now they have a chance to get this done and we’re very excited about that.”

McDonald said that completion of the roofing project will enable the next phase of a town-wide energy efficiency project, installation of solar panels on the school’s roof.

“Which, to my way of thinking, takes a building that was built, I think, in 1914, and gets it modernized,” said McDonald, adding that the new roof and future solar panels will complement interior upgrades to the building that were completed in recent years.

“Now we’ve got the icing on the cake,” said McDonald of the roofing project. “It’s a great boon to Deep River and a great boon to our schools and we really, really do appreciate it.”

The citizens of Deep River approved a total expenditure of $159,500 for completion of the roofing project at a town meeting on Aug. 31. That amount includes the state bond funds as well as $25,000 that was already included in the town’s annual operating budget for the project this fiscal year. It also includes $2,500 for the cost of materials.

“This year, we chose a section [of roofing] that was $25,000 and that was what was approved in the budget,” said McDonald, at the Aug. 31 meeting. “We’re increasing that tonight because of an additional cost of $2,500. The materials have gone up since that bid was put together three or four years ago.”

Palm said that the state bond funds are a way “for the state to step up” and help with local projects.

“The main impetus and the inspiration [for projects] should actually come from the ground up, from the towns and then we make it happen on the state level,” she said.