A project that has been several decades in the making took a major step forward at a recent Greene County Board of Supervisors meeting.

At their August 25th meeting, the Board approved a notice to award a bid for the HVAC project at the Greene County Courthouse to Graphite Construction in Des Moines, for a total of $2,624,000 and an alternate to replace the roof for $360,000. Supervisor Chair John Muir says it is a bit scary that after all of these discussions, with other Boards of Supervisors, even before his over 20 year tenure, to be on the verge of getting this project off the ground.

“It was about keeping our courthouse viable in the modern world, and comfortable for our employees, and all of those things. Now it’s going to happen and it’s going to be really interesting to watch how it transforms to what we think it’s going, in the future, be a courthouse that they want to keep functional.”

Muir explains what he was struggling with internally before some of the funding came together.

“I recognized the need and then you get down to, ‘How are we going to pay for it?’ So I was a foot-dragger. And then when ARPA funds came along and they are eligible to be used and qualify for this project. I mean, the stars are aligning and maybe we better make it happen now or it may never (happen).”

The Board is using the rest of its allocated $1.7 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, along with issuing a loan from the county general fund to pay for the rest, with the county’s surplus to reimburse the general fund. Once the contract is finalized with Graphite Construction, the project is scheduled to begin on October 1st, with a one year completion timeframe.