Trinity Standard - Local News
Stories Added - February 2010
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Courthouse restoration work on schedule
Trinity Standard - January 2010
GROVETON – After approving minor changes to plumbing work, Trinity County commissioners were told Monday that the restoration of the Trinity County Courthouse is still on schedule. The date of “substantial completion” is still listed as Oct. 15. Substantial completion is the date on which the county would be able to move back into the building, although minor construction work would still be underway. “The public only sees the outside of the building and right now, there is not a lot of work underway there,” County Judge Mark Evans noted. “However, inside the building there are all kinds of craftsmen and laborers working very hard.” Architect Michael Gaertner and Project Manager Stephanie White of the Galveston-based Michael Gaertner Architects agreed and noted that work is moving at a fast pace inside the courthouse. White noted that ductwork and fire sprinkler systems are being installed and the holes had been cut on the second and third floors for the building’s first-ever elevator system. “We’ve also looked at the roof and we have good news,” she said. “There were no hazardous materials found.” Work on the courthouse was put on hold for about a month this past fall while hazardous materials teams removed a larger than expected amount of asbestos from the building’s interior. At that time, Gaertner and others expressed concern that asbestos could be found in the roofing materials, a discovery that would cause another delay while it was removed. Commissioners greeted White’s roof announcement with pleasure and indicated they felt they had “dodged a bullet” in terms of cost and time. White told commissioners that the ornamental metal work that was located around the edge of the roof has been removed and is being recreated. “One thing we did find is that many of the bricks up there were dry stacked so we’ll have to have them mortared in place,” she said. White also told commissioners that bricks matching the color of those used when the courthouse was built in 1914 have been located. The county had been searching for bricks that could be used to replace damaged bricks or off-colored bricks used in past repairs. During their meeting, commissioners approved changes that would add about $14,000 to the overall cost of the courthouse project. White noted the base bid for the project was $4.7 million and a total of $218,578 in additional work has been approved, most of which involved the removal of asbestos. The $14,000 in changes okayed Monday will come from the remaining $251,422 in contingency funds set aside for the project. Most of the changes approved Monday involved the plumbing leading to four small restrooms – two on the second floor and two on the third. While noted that until the contractor opened up the walls and actually saw the pipes, they did not realize that the additional plumbing work was needed. “The wastewater pipes aren’t going to where we thought they went and we need to make some changes,” White told commissioners. Evans noted that the county’s building committee agreed the changes were needed and noted that when the renovations are completed, all of the old cast iron plumbing in the courthouse will be replaced. The total cost of the plumbing changes was listed at $10,453. The other change – listed at $3,601 – was to replace one of the courthouse’s windows. White explained that sometime in the past this particular window was apparently replaced and did not match the others. She told commissioners the $3,601 would be used to recreate the window in the same wood and style as the other courthouse windows. In other business related to the courthouse, commissioners gave their stamp of approval to the layout of the new commissioners’ courtroom to be located on the first floor. Their old meeting room was located on the second floor in an area which will probably be assigned to the district clerk when the county moves back into the building. The commissioners’ courtroom will be located in the space formally used as the county treasurer’s office and break room. The wall between the two spaces already has been removed. White told commissioners the layout will provide spectator seating for 27 people and have two areas that can be used by those in wheelchairs. In response to questions from commissioners, White noted that the rest of the courthouse offices are being designed generically and that commissioners could assign space to the various offices as they saw fit. “Right now, with the exception of the commissioners’ courtroom, nothing is written in stone. You can decide where everyone will be located,” she told the commissioners. Other business During their meeting, commissioners also: • Scheduled a public hearing on setting a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit on the Lloyd Bell Road off FM 356. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. on March 8 during the next regular meeting of the commissioners. • Scheduled a public hearing on amending the plat of the Eaglewood subdivision of FM 3188 near Trinity. The amendment calls for the abandonment of a road easement. • Approved the refund of $1,191.14 in property taxes paid by S.E. Denman. Officials indicated Denman was entitled to a agricultural exemption and overpaid his county taxes. • Agreed to consider at their next meeting contracting with the Harbor Point Property Owners Association to provide a part-time contract deputy constable as a security guard. Under the system being proposed, the POA would pay the county the cost of having the deputy constable work 40 hours per month at the subdivision and the county would in turn pay the officer a salary for those hours. • Approved an agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office that would allow federal officers to enforce local and state laws. • Approved an agreement between the Burke Center and the sheriff’s department that would allow the two agencies to share certain confidential information regarding mental patients. • Approved a lease agreement with Citizens State Bank for property located adjacent to the Precinct 1 Road Barn in Groveton. The county is leasing the property for $1 per year as a location for the sheriff’s department to store large items that have been confiscated or are being held pending their return to their owners. • Held a closed session to meet with their attorneys regarding a pending lawsuit filed against the county. No action was taken following the closed-door meeting.
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