During Monday’s Marshall County Commissioner meeting, Doug Masterson, head of Buildings & Grounds brought forth two expenditures for the commissioners to consider.
The first item is an air exchanger on top of the annex building of the Courthouse. He believes it was hit by lightning years ago and had a local electrician rewire the unit. Masterson said it is used off-and-on and vibrates badly and sits right over Judge Bowen’s court room.
This unit, which appears to be original to the building in 1988 lets fresh air into the building and exhausts old air out of the building. Masterson said with the coronavirus pandemic they are working to keep air moving and not stagnant in the county buildings. Masterson said, “This is one unit that should be exchanged out.” He presented an estimate from Dynamic Mechanical Services to replace the air handler. The price is $31,336 and includes the removal of the old unit and placement of the new air handler which will require a crane. They will also install new 20×20 ducts with sound liner that will be weather tight.
The second issue Masterson presented was the need for a new heat pump in the hallway of the second floor in the old portion of the courthouse building, where the new court will be. He said there is no heat or air in the hallway. Dynamic Mechanical Services quoted $18,811 for a new 2½ ton heat pump that will be installed above the ceiling in the west courtroom. Masterson said the only issue is they will have to cut through the 18 inches of block wall to install the duct work.
The commissioners approved both quotes. The commissioners approved paying for the heat pump using the $300,000 set aside in the Rainy Day Fund for the fourth court and the air handler from the Building & Grounds fund.
