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County Board gets fresh update on courthouse project

Posted July 01, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

Another two weeks and another progress report on the ongoing renovations to the Randolph County Courthouse.

Kevin Bollman, business consultant with Honeywell, updated the county commissioners during Friday's meeting of the board on the the status of the project.

Bollman noted that structural steel has been "roofed in," which will allow the new air handling units to be set when they arrive. Weather protection is also in place.

"It will get a test over the weekend, but according to the roofers, the old roof will leak first before the temporary roof," he said.

On July 16, chilled water shut-off valves will be installed, while the existing chilled water system will be drained, refilled and made operational by the end of that weekend.

"This will allow isolation of the air handling systems so they can be removed and replaced without shutting the whole cooling system down," Bollman noted in the report.

Demolition of the old air handling units will begin on July 25, with new units to be shipped the week of Aug. 1 and installed upon arrival.

Commissioner Ronnie White asked Bollman about what happens if there's a delay in shipping.

"They don't commit to a ship date until it starts down the production line," Bollman said.

The commissioners, Bollman and Quadrant Design architect Michael Schneider - who was in attendance at the meeting - discussed a recent situation of contractors setting up their cranes in front of the courthouse instead of in the back.

Schneider said there is a half-day to a day of crane work remaining and suggested informing the Chester Police Department to try and address traffic in the intersection on that day.

Discussion later moved to asbestos abatement, which is delaying work on the hot water heater for both the courthouse and jail.

"We want to get started on the water heater and that's in the way," Bollman said. "Most contractors are busy with school projects right now."

Schneider noted he had received on bid of $5,000 for the work. The county is waiting on additional bids.

Discussion moved on to establishing a priority of the projects - plumbing replacements at Randolph County Jail, repairing the gates and installing a new roof on the facility.

"I think the plumbing should be done as soon as possible because there are some fixtures that are leaking," Schneider said.

Bids on the plumbing portion of the project were recently opened. Sparta-based Plumbing Solutions was the lowest of three bidders with a price of $116,847.

The engineer's estimate was $130,000.

Kiehna noted Plumbing Solutions has worked on projects at the jail before and is one of the contractors working on the courthouse project.

A ballpark figure of $120,000 was given for repairs to the gate doors, with a range of $175,000 to $200,000 for the roof.

Previously, a company successfully installed electromagnetic locks in one cell block, but when moving on to the next one, workers noticed a change in size of the gates.

"What they discovered was it could not provide a secure seal and one of the employees was able to manhandle the gate open," said Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff.

Bollman asked the commissioners to declare the gates, which will now be fitted with new mechanical locks, as an "emergency situation."

"There's only a handful of companies in the country that do this," he said of repairs. "There's no one in the St. Louis region."

Documentation on the gates and the plumbing project is anticipated to be brought to the board's July 15 meeting.

In other news, the commissioners approved new base salaries for commissioner, circuit clerk, coroner and State's Attorney officials.

Commissioner salaries will drop to $40,000 (from $43,354), with the circuit clerk at $66,000 (from $68,002). Coroner dropped to $58,000 (from $62,354).

The State's Attorney's salary ($176,700) is set by state law based upon the size of the county.

Wolff also gave the media the final cost of the Drew Peterson trial. Peterson, who was found guilty of solicitation of murder and solicitation of murder for hire last month, is scheduled for sentencing on July 26.

Total cost to the county is $18,917.96, including $13,00.96 in overtime costs to bailiffs, jailers, deputies and security staff. The remaining amount consists of different equipment costs and bus rental for the jurors..

Wolff noted that Sound Core, which provided the audio and video equipment for the overflow room, charged only seven days rental for the 13 days of proceedings.

"We did submit bills to the Attorney General's office requesting assistance," Wolff said.

Roundup

• The commissioners approved appointments to the following boards - Jack Link (Chester Memorial Hospital Board of Directors), Evelyn Schuwerk (Chester Memorial Hospital Board of Directors), William E. Rabe (Chester Memorial Board of Directors), Dennis Ernsting (Sparta Community Hospital Board), Claudia Kerens (Sparta Community Hospital Board), Ken Buch (Randolph County Board of Health) and Denise Ebers (Randolph County Board of Health).

• The board approved special use permits for Kevin Luthy (Baldwin), Andrew and Sonny Markotay (Sparta), Diana Smith (executor of the Evelyn Happel Estate in Walsh), Donald Weiser (Walsh) and the Randolph County Rod and Gun Club in Sparta.

The first three permits involved the separation of property in agriculturally zoned districts, while the Rod and Gun Club was approved to construct a 8x40 steel storage container - which will not be visible from the road - for storing equipment.

• The Randolph County Care Center was reported to have 65 residents.

• General Assistance for the period was $886 with expenses at $100.

• The next meeting of the board is July 15 at 9 a.m. It is open to the public.

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