By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There are always extra expenses uncovered during a big project. Most of the change orders surrounding the HVAC Renovation Project at the Barton County Courthouse have come under the $50,000 threshold established in Resolution 2023-19 that do not require approval from the Barton County Commission. That was not the case for a series of change orders presented by County Administrator Matt Patzner during Tuesday morning's commission meeting.
"This would essentially fix a lot of our issues with leaking in the ceiling, the smell in the courthouse we would notice every so often," he said. "It would fix all that and also make the bathroom more ADA compliant."
The change orders address work for bathroom remodels on the first floor with a price tag of $217,484, domestic water upgrades for $48,113, and sanitary sewer upgrades for an additional $78,411. The commission approved the change orders totaling $344,009. Commission Chair Barb Esfeld said it could be worse.
"These changes are very important as we've discussed before," she said. "We don't want to go in and have problems. That just would not make any sense at all. I think the other commissioners felt the same as I did. I thought it was going to be closer to $500,000. You're never pleasantly surprised when you have to spend more money, but at least it didn't come in quite where we were thinking."
The commission originally approved the project at $4.2 million in February 2023. Last November, change orders totaling $188,000 were added to the project. In December, the county approved roof repairs after the July 16 storm with $41,000 in out-of-pocket expenses after insurance. With the roof included, repairs to the courthouse now sit at $4.77 million. The county is using $2.8 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for the project. The courthouse is expected to be fully functional by June 1.