Hill County Commission moves on lift station, courthouse work

The Hill County Commission approved an amendment to a task order for improving the RSID 21 lift station, a project that is now ready for bid, as well as projects to improve the Hill County Courthouse at their weekly business meeting Thursday.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said the task order from Great West Engineering had to be amended to include another $93,000 to pay for additional services in the project.

McLean said this increase as well as the project as a whole is being paid for by grants that are not from the American Rescue Plan Act, and with the passage of the amendment it is ready to go to bid.

“This project is basically entirely grant funded,” she said.

The commission also approved a $23,000 project to install new carpet in the courthouse entryway, staircase, commission office, and Clerk and Recorder’s office, as well as adding new linoleum.

Some discussion was had about the color of the carpet and the company that would be awarded the bid.

The commission voted 2-1, with McLean voting no, to go with a dark-colored carpet for the entryway and a grey and black carpet for the rest of the main floor, as well as grayish linoleum with a wood-like pattern.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said the choice of dark carpet was in line with a recommendation by County Building Manager Daryl Anez, and Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said it wouldn’t require any new equipment to keep clean.

McLean said she favored the neutralbrown carpets because she feared that the darker carpet would fade with time, and doesn’t match as well with the walls.

The project was awarded to McNair Furniture and Flooring in Rudyard.

The commission also voted to proceed with a project to install wifi in the courthouse and set aside $10,000 in ARPA funding for the project.

Peterson said the actual cost will likely be considerably less and Triangle Communications gave the commission a quote of around $6,000.

He said the wifi would be password-protected, and people would need to talk to the commissioners to get it.

The commission also discussed creating a multi-purpose cart including a 55-inch touchscreen TV monitor that can be used for training new employees.

Peterson said they were originally considering a 75-inch monitor, but a 55-inch would work better when moving it, especially in the elevator.

He asked that the commission table the matter, which it did, until more details about the cart’s contents are known, but he wants to move forward on the project once said details are obtained.