Logan County Briefs: Courthouse copper dome restoration contract and Zoning Officer position filled

 

[March 22, 2022] 

At the Logan County Board’s regular meeting Tuesday, March 15, the board voted on several action items. One focus of discussion was the dome restoration.

Building & Grounds Committee Chairman David Blankenship brought forward a motion to approve Durable Slate Restoration Company for the courthouse copper dome restoration in the amount of $1,800,254.

Because board member Dale Nelson had concerns about initial cost so far on the courthouse restoration, he asked about having a special meeting. He feels little has been done so far and said the county is already at 10 percent of the total budget. Nelson said the special meeting would help provide a better understanding of what is happening with the restoration.

What Nelson would like to see is where the county is in the project, how much has been spent and whether the cost is beneficial. Nelson wants to have a better understanding of what the milestones are, where the county is at cost wise and the way everything is handled.
 

Because of Nelson’s past project management experience, he brought up several items to be sure money is being expensed out efficiently.

There was some mention last month of costs being 40 percent over what was expected, so that was another concern Nelson had. He would like more information about everything. Nelson requested that the board not approve this motion until they had a special meeting.

Though there have been delays, board member Annette Welch said much the project so far has been in the planning phase. She had no problem voting on the contract.

After reviewing the contract, Blankenship said Logan County State’s Attorney Bradley Hauge just made some minor adjustments. All are easily corrected.

Board member Bob Sanders said the bid for the dome work appears lower than the original amount.

Even though project manager Bill Walter had mentioned a 40 percent overage, he said there has been a serious misunderstanding about it. He has made multiple presentations to the board about what the last few years have done to the economy.

If everything went unharnessed, Walter said he has projected spending 40 percent more than what the budget was originally portrayed to be. He said there have been no expenditures made so far where the 40 percent increase has manifested.

The original bid for dome restoration was 2.7 million, which Walter said was unacceptable. As project manager, Walter said one of his responsibilities is due diligence on managing money and being a good steward of the money.

With extra time and a team effort, Walter got the bid down to $1.8 million saving the county almost $1 M. He would rather pay for using scaffolding for a longer period, which will still cost less than the original bid.

On Tuesday, Walter brought plans and specs for everyone to peruse to get an idea of the work. Walter said it takes an inordinately long period of time to plan a project without covid as a factor. With the current state of project execution being affected by supply chain, labor, and inflation just to name a few, Walter said they are doing a bang-up job.
 

Though Nelson said he understood some of these issues, he had asked two months ago whether the project was on track with spending and overall. He felt the answers he was given were vague and does not have a full understanding of where we are at.

Waiting another month could delay everything further, so board member Steve Jenness said he would vote to approve the contract.

To address Nelson’s concerns about little being done, Blankenship made a list of what has been done so far. Blankenship said he came up with 31 different things that had taken place. Many are related to engineering and planning.

A few years back, the bid for dome restoration was around $3.5 M. When looking at the newest bid amount, Blankenship said Walter has done a great job.

Professional services have been provided and that is all contract based and fixed fee. The only other substantial work has been scaffolding for the dome, which Walter has competitively bid.

The structural steel override was not anticipated, but Blankenship said it was vetted and approved by the board. Blankenship said no contracts are 40 percent over. Due to current economic conditions, labor and materials are 40 percent or greater than they were under better economic conditions.

Budgets are not set in stone and board member Jim Wessbecher said Walter has worked hard to bring costs down. No one foresaw the supply chain issues being faced. In projects, Wessbecher said there are likely to be line items that may be over because of various circumstances.

For the dome bid, board member Keenan Leesman asked if the amount covered the entire dome. He wanted to know if the repairs would eliminate most of the leaking into the building. Leesman also asked what the next major project milestone would be.

The bid covers the entire dome, but Blankenship said it does not cover the window base or roof system of the courthouse. The dome restoration should eliminate the leaking.

The next milestone is likely HVAC if the county votes to approve the performance contract. In a special meeting, Blankenship said they would address what will and will not be included.

If approved, board member Bob Sanders asked when work on the dome would begin.

Walter said the work would begin in approximately two weeks. He was hoping to get a letter of intent by the end of this week.

To board member David Hepler, a special meeting devoted to the courthouse restoration and status sounded good. He asked Walter to use layman’s terms in the meeting to help everyone understand what is being done.

Board Vice chairman Scott Schaffenacker then called for a vote.

The motion to approve Durable Slate Restoration Company for the courthouse copper dome restoration in the amount of $1,800,254.00 passed 11-1. Nelson voted no.

Update on Zoning Officer search

Since Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea resigned a couple months ago to take a position with the Army Corps of Engineers, the board has been looking for replacements. A lengthy list of current county needs was drawn up.

Special Planning & Zoning Meeting
Orr Building – 2nd Floor
February 22nd, 2022

Present: Dr. Hepler, Mrs. Welch, Mr. Blankenship, Mr. Leesman, Dale Nelson (remotely)

Absent: Mrs. Davenport

Guests: Bob Sanders, Will D’Andrea, Blair Hoerbert, Elizabeth Kavelman, George Menken, Janet Estill (remotely), Scott Schaffenacker

Dr. Hepler called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Discussion of Duties for a Zoning Officer- Dr. Hepler stated that all the duties listed on the agenda
will have to be done by the Zoning Officer and asked the committee of they had any comment on the
duties listed, the committee had no comments on Old Business.
 

a. Ordinance Compliance
b. Code Enforcement
c. ZBA Clerk
d. Public Hearings
e. EZ Administrator
f. RPC Director
g. Economic Development Initiatives
h. Ability to Work with Developers, Large and Small
i. Grant Writing and Pursual
j. Other Duties as Assigned

The board ultimately decided having two part-time people would be best.

One position will focus more on zoning and the other on economic development.

In an executive session at the end of the board meeting, the board approved the hiring of two part-time people. George Mencken will serve as part-time Zoning Officer and Assistant Economic Development Director. Beth Davis-Kavelman will serve as part-time Economic Development Director and Assistant Zoning Officer.

Each person will cross-train in both areas. That way Mencken can back up Davis-Kavelman in economic development and Davis-Kavelman can back up Mencken in zoning.

Mencken was approved with 11 board members voting yes. Due to personal relationship, Blankenship abstained.

Davis-Kavelman was also approved with 11 board members voting yes. Due to personal relationship, Davenport abstained.

As Zoning Officer, Mencken will oversee regional planning. Davis-Kavelman will be overseeing the enterprise zone and grant writing. Other duties will be further discussed at the April Planning and Zoning meeting.

Other action items:

Executive & Personnel Committee update

The board approved Schaffenacker’s motion to authorize Board Chair to sign a two-year residential energy aggregation contract with Stone River Group.
At the board workshop, Board Chairman Emily Davenport said the Stone River got the amount for the energy contract to .51 cents.
 

Road and Bridge Committee update

The board unanimously approved the following items from the Road and Bridge Committee:

- A resolution to approve a Joint Agreement with IDOT to use federal funds for the design of a resurfacing project between New Holland and Middletown and to appropriate up to $20,000 from the Matching Tax Fund for our local share.

- A resolution to award a contract for Bituminous Materials for the 2022 Township Motor Fuel Tax sealcoat program.

- Appropriation of up to $12,500 to install additional guardrail on County Highway 20 west of Union on 1175th Avenue.

Transportation Committee update

The following Transportation Committee items were unanimously approved:

- The 2022 Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement between Logan County and Show Bus.

- A resolution for the purchase of service agreement for rural general public transportation under 5311 and DOAP.

- A public transportation Intergovernmental Agreement with Mason County.

- A resolution for the Public Transportation Ordinance.

The next Regular board meeting will be Tuesday, April 19, at 6 p.m. in the Orr Building.

[Angela Reiners]