Two speakers before the City Council on Tuesday asked the council to reconsider its vote moving forward with a $314,000 "green roof" for City Hall.
Pall Mallchok, general manager for the Eastgate Town Center, called the move "an absolute waste of money."
He said Eastgate is looking into the possibility of putting a green roof on a new small building, but he said green roofs usually don't make sense on older buildings. For one thing, he said there may be structural issues.
Mr.
Mallchok, who is an official of the Building Owners and Managers Association, said, "To pay three times the cost for a standard roof - it just doesn't make good economic sense."
He said with an estimated $4,000 per year in energy savings, "It would take 50 years to get the payback."
Milton Jackson, leader of an Alton Park group fighting pollution, said he is concerned that mold, mildew and fungus will wind up on the green roof.
"I'm afraid it is going to endanger the health of our citizens," he said.