The Pulaski County Courthouse is currently without an elevator, and that will likely continue on and off for much of the next year.
County Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston told the county council and commissioners Monday that the elevator’s motor has burned out. “We’re trying to get a new one in here, but there’s a four-week lead time,” he explained. “So we’re going to have about four weeks, three-and-a-half weeks now, without an elevator in here, and then we’re going to have a four-month period where we are going to be able to use this one.”
At the same time, plans to replace the elevator with a brand new one are moving ahead. “With the commissioners’ approval of the contract addendum for the elevator and the council’s approval of the $32,000 for the architectural work, a site visit’s planned for the beginning of July, where they’ll start the detailed measuring,” Johnston said. “The drawing process will begin.”
Johnston said the drawings and the material lists should be done by the end of September, at which point the project will go out for bids. Actual construction work on the new elevator is expected to begin in November and will take another six months to complete.
Pulaski County has been working to bring the courthouse into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The existing elevator is considered too small to easily fit people using wheelchairs.
The county council and commissioners also decided Monday to move ahead with other repairs and improvements at the courthouse. Council members voted to spend $60,000 out of the county’s Rainy Day Fund to enlist the services of Arsee Engineers. “What this $60,000 basically covers is they’re going to reassess everything because things have changed since February of last year,” Johnston explained. “There’s more damage than there was before, so they’re going to reassess everything. They’re going to handle the bid process. They’re going to handle being on-site to make sure everything’s repaired the way it’s supposed to be, using the correct materials, the correct manner of repairs. They’re going to basically act as the project manager for the whole thing.”
Johnston said repair work will likely get underway in the spring of 2018. To pay for the repairs, council members are thinking about using money the county currently has invested in certificates of deposit, to avoid the need to issue bonds.
