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County Board approves courthouse contract

Posted April 09, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

The renovations to the Randolph County Courthouse/Jail took a step forward on Friday, as the county's Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Honeywell Building Solutions for the project.

Dubbed "Phase I," the $2,434,000 portion of the project will see a new roof installed on the courthouse, along with HVAC replacements/improvements and plumbing repairs.

Funding will be coming from $2.95 million in bonds voters authorized as part of the March 15 primary election.

Board Chairman Dr. Marc Kiehna said the county is in the process of selling those bonds, with an anticipated funding date of May 10, and the contract was approved with the stipulation that funding be in place first.

"We're not going to jump into this until we have the money," said Commissioner Dave Holder.

Subcontractors on the project are the following:

Piping - Southern Illinois Piping; Plumbing - Plumbing Solutions Inc.; Roof - Taylor Roofing; Electric - MC Electric; Ventilation/sheet metal/structural steel - Trico Mechanical Inc.; Air handling unit and chiller supplier - Thermal Mechanics Inc.; Boiler and pump supplier - Behrmann Company; Terminal unit supplier - Kuhlmann Supply Company; Water heater supplier - Winnelson Company.

"They have assured us they will be working with us to make sure they do not disrupt operations," Kiehna said, referring to Honeywell.

Kiehna said the plan is for crews to be working on the heating system during the summer and the air conditioning in the fall. Phase I is expected to be complete by December and the county will have to pay 25 percent of the cost up front.

"I have been assured they will stick to that price," Kiehna said.

Kiehna noted Phase II would shift the focus to the Randolph County Jail, which is slated to receive a new roof and plumbing repairs as part of the overall scope of the project.

Kiehna noted that the board would be meeting with individual officeholders to talk about how the renovations would affect each individual office.

"Roads will be closed and cranes will be taking things on and off the roof," Kiehna said.

In other news, the board formally approved housing federal prisoners at the jail and a revised county employee handbook.

"I was encouraging the federal marshals to give us as many as they can," said Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff.

Kiehna said the county's insurer, Risk Management Trust, felt the county needed an update on its handbook.

"We did a thorough look-through with them," Kiehna said, adding that Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker also vetted the updated version.

Kiehna noted the process took four months and the board is asking officeholders to review it before passing it out to their employees. It is also expected to be uploaded to the county's website in the future.

During public comment, Randolph County 911 Administrator Cindy Wagner spoke to the board about National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 11 through 15).

The U.S. Congress and National Emergency Number Association have recognized April as 911 education month and encourage 911 awareness.

"Certainly, we thank our telecommunicators for the tough job they do," Kiehna said.

The new single 911 rate is 87 cents, with the current landline rate being 98 cents, with wireless at 73 cents. More information is included inside next week's print edition of the Herald Tribune.

The nine counties in the state currently without 911 service to their citizens have begun work to provide that service with the target date of July 1, 2017 to have statewide 911 service.

The statewide next generation network - which is under the direction of the Illinois State Police and will create a network that includes text-to-911, automatic crash notifications, GIS map advancements and data sharing - is expected by 2020.

"There's an issue we have in the county with people putting up their own (road) signs," Wagner said.

Roundup

• The board approved a delinquent tax resolution for 713 E. College St. in Sparta.

• The board tabled a presentation of the 2015 county audit. Kiehna said he was notified that it is not yet ready.

• General assistance for the period was $1,382.

• The Randolph County Care Center was reported to have 66 residents.

• The board approved a bid from E.T. Simonds to resurface two miles of Shiloh Hill Road from Wine Hill Road to the Jackson County line for a price of $321,542.68.

Simonds was the lone bidder on the project and has an asphalt plant in the area.

"That's probably why no one else bid on it," said County Engineer Mike Riebeling.

The project is projected to start in May.

• The board approved bids for road oil for the upcoming year. Heartland Asphalt Materials' bid of $214,500 and Marathon Ashland's bid of $66,739.20 were both approved.

The total price of the bids ($281,239.20) is more than $100,000 less than the engineer's estimate of $390,850.

Riebeling told the media that engineer's estimates are based on last year's prices and the drop in oil prices have resulted in lower bids.

• Randolph County Care Center Administrator Ken Slavens informed the board that the center will be having a volunteer recognition day on April 15, a Mother's Day brunch on May 7 and Family Day on May 24.

• Randolph County Health Department Administrator Tom Smith reported on a recent administrator meeting and how there is some talk of not providing services that are not being reimbursed by the state.

Smith said his agency is "holding the line" during the state's budget impasse.

"We're very careful about how we spend money and now, is there another way to do this without spending money?"

• The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is Friday, April 22, at 9 a.m.

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