Commissioners OK courthouse improvements
The Fayette County Commissioners agreed Friday to spend no more that $500,000 in 2005 on courthouse improvements. That amount is a far cry from the $16 million in renovations suggested in an architectural study done by Phil Hundley of DRS Architects in Pittsburgh.
Commissioner Joe Hardy paid for the study out of his own pocket.
During the business meeting, Hardy was silent on the subject of courthouse renovations after last month telling the other two commissioners that they better move to do something or “the damn thing will fall down.”
He did make the motion to authorize the limited spending, seconded by Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites and agreed to by Chairwoman Angela Zimmerlink.
The commissioners have not yet said which parts of the courthouse the $500,000 budgeted will go towards.
The study indicated that the roof of the courthouse needs fixed or repaired, that work needs done on the windows, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and electrical systems, and the stone exterior.
“We can’t do all of these,” Zimmerlink said.
Vicites agreed that the work that is done will be the type that helps keep the “structural integrity” of the building, noting that the county can only afford to do “selective improvements” right now.
“I think this is sensible,” Vicites said.
The money comes from the capital outlay line item, which is used for capital improvement projects.
Also under that line item falls the estimated $1.5 million cost of state-mandated electronic voting machines.
Lori Nicholson, director of the election bureau, said the state has given the counties that are not online with electronic voting until Jan. 31, 2005 ,to be in compliance.
The county received a grant to help will the purchase, but it is responsible for the difference.
The state initially said electronic machines had to be bought by August, but extended the deadline.