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Logan County Board Building &
Grounds Committee
Highlights of the meeting: Lack of
response from Pride Fest Committee, expectation of stain glass going
back in the courthouse dome and concern over late payments
[April 10, 2025]
On Wednesday, April 9th, the
Building and Grounds committee of the larger Logan County Board met
for their monthly meeting. This meeting took place in the Blue Room
of the Logan County Safety Complex starting at 5:30 p.m. All
committee members were in attendance. This included Chairman Dale
Nelson, Vice Chairman Gil Turner, Lance Conahan, Hannah Fitzpatrick,
and Jim Wessbecher. Also in attendance were Bill Walter and
Facilities Manager Chris Wilson.
The committee started with old
business. The first item was the Logan County Pride Fest that is set
to take place in June. This item has been on the agenda under old
business for months now. In previous month’s committee meetings, it
was shared that this event, as all events in the county, are
required to show proof of insurance for the event. The organizers of
the Pridefest had not submitted their proof of insurance, and the
board has been trying to get a hold of them for months. In this
meeting, it was shared that Administrative Assistant Kati Newman had
tried several times to get a hold of them since March’s Building and
Grounds meeting. None of these contacts were successful, however.
The board decided that they would keep trying to reach out.
The other item on the agenda under old business was the $7,300 floor
scrubber that was requested at March’s meeting. At that meeting, the
committee stated that the floor scrubber would not be needed until
the floors were finished, and so did not want to spend the money on
a machine that was not yet needed. This sentiment continued into
April, with the committee once again sending this item on to old
business for May.
This then brought the committee to new business, starting with an
update on the Logan County Courthouse restoration project. The
windows of the courthouse are going to be replaced, starting next
Monday. The company coming in to install the windows are expecting
it to take about six weeks, so long as the weather permits. Walter
then shared that they are looking to start working on renovating the
first floor courtroom around May 1st. They are expecting to begin
renovating the security area on the first floor around the middle of
June.
Walter then mentioned that Newman and the County Board office would
be moving out of the Regions Bank building on Kickapoo Street and
moving into an office on the first floor of the courtroom. In this
space, Walter stated, Newman would have enough space to conduct her
business, but there would also be enough space for the members of
the board to come in and review things.
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The last update
Walter gave was the expected start date for the installation of
the stained glass windows. Walter stated that this was anywhere
from May 1st to the 15th, but could be later depending on how
other projects at the courthouse progress.
Wilson then gave his Facilities
Manager report. He shared that a panel on the roof of the courthouse
flew off when Lincoln got a lot of rain last week. He found it on
the other side of the roof and replaced it. He also found water in
the basement. Wilson’s best guess is that there is a clog in the
drain pipe from the roof. That pipe runs down to the basement, and
has never leaked before. They are going to be looking into solving
that issue. The last item Wilson brought up in his report was a
quote he got from Henson Robinson. The quote is for running a heat
loop around the elevator shaft. Currently, when the weather is very
cold, it can cause the elevator to have issues or become inoperable
entirely. The estimate puts the cost of the work at $10,170. Wilson
suggested this be something the board look into doing in the fall
before the next winter.
There were three other use of grounds
requests on the agenda. The first was a request by Mike Block to use
the courthouse steps on 4/17 to announce his candidacy for Sheriff.
The next was a request for Lincoln Community High School for the
prom grand march to use the courthouse lawn on 5/3. The last request
was for a National Day of Prayer to be held in the courthouse
rotunda on 5/1. All three of these requests were moved on to
Thursday’s Workshop meeting.
The last issue brought up before the meeting adjourned was about
late fees from bills being paid late. Conahan asked if they could
not pay their bills and then have the board review them after they
had been paid. Conahan’s argument was that, should the board have
issue with a bill, they could work with the vendor on getting a
refund. No one on the board objected, but told Conahan to bring this
concern to Penny Thomas, Logan County Treasurer, or Theresa Moore,
Logan County Clerk and Recorder.
[Matt Boutcher] |
