The Greene County Supervisors recently heard an overview of the heating and cooling project for the county courthouse.

Holly Elbert and Emmett Konrad with Brooks, Borg and Skiles went over the project designs with the Supervisors at their meeting on Monday. They said the project was going to consist of installing a chiller unit on the roof, a boiler in the basement and running a four-pipe fan coil system throughout the three-story building. Elbert proposed using mostly a unique approach for ventilation of the building by using operable windows, which the building code allows for, due to the structural-nature of the century-old building. They also felt by locating the chiller unit on the roof, it would be more cost effective and a better use of space.

Other plans include adding an additional stairway and access door from the third floor to the attic/roof to service the chiller unit. They would also make repairs to a second exit from the county engineer’s office of the boiler room, as per building code regulations.

Following an initial discussion, the Board leaned toward wanting construction to take place in different quadrants of the building, rather than by individual floors, to make it easier for temporarily relocating department personnel and for workers to place the required piping through each floor.

Another part the Supervisors felt they wanted to include in the project was updating the public restrooms. Elbert noted that they would develop plans to renovate the first and third floor restrooms, with an estimated cost of $250,000. However, that would be in addition to the $1.7 million estimate for the heating and cooling project. The Supervisors felt they needed to update the restrooms at the same time they are updating the HVAC system. Another component they will look into is updating the internet network and security system wiring for the courthouse, as per the recommendation of Informational Technology Administrator Michelle Fields.

Elbert mentioned that the construction work for the heating and cooling project could take at minimum four to six weeks to complete. However, since the Supervisors haven’t identified funding sources and the architect firm hasn’t completed all of the designs, no formal action was taken by the Board following the update.