Interior improvements planned for Scott County's courthouse

BENTON - Scott County Commissioners looked over invitations to bid on installing central heating and air conditioning for the courthouse during their regular meeting Tuesday.

May 13 a pre-bid conference will be held, according to County Clerk Rita Milam. Bids are due and will be opened at 11 a.m. May 25.

The HVAC system will be used to heat and cool the first two floors of the courthouse including the circuit courtroom.

"We're trying to get our courthouse more cost-effective by putting in new heating and air," said Martin Priggel, presiding commissioner.

Priggel said it is also part of a larger plan to get rid of all window air conditioner units, radiators and exterior conduits at the courthouse.

The removal of the radiators will enable county officials to make better use of their office space at the courthouse

"You can't be too close to them and they take up wall space," said Jamie Burger, county commissioner. "And the old boiler has been on its last leg since I've been here."

Space freed up by removing the boiler and its piston pump will be used to store records, Burger said. "It's going to clean that whole area up."

Tied in to the removal of the boiler-radiator heating system is the removal of asbestos insulation on the system, which Burger reported is on schedule. County officials hope to see the asbestos removal project completed by mid-May.

Interior remodeling projects should be finished this year as well.

"This year: interior. Next year: exterior if money allows," said Burger.

In other Scott County news:

* The bid to lay a 1.5 inch thick hot mix asphalt cap on County Road 204 was awarded to the low bidder, Apex Paving Company of Sikeston, which bid the job at $36.85 per ton of asphalt for an estimated 1,235 tons.

Also bidding was Asa Asphalt of Advance which entered a bid of $37.75 per ton.

The road is 21 feet wide. The section to be overlaid is not quite 1.25 miles long and located between Scott City and Chaffee. "That's really one of our heaviest-traveled roads in the county," said Priggel.

On the day the cap is laid, the road will be closed to all but local traffic, according to commissioners. "They're going to do it as weather permits with warmer weather," Burger said. "We try to do about one mile every year of heavily-traveled road in the county."

Last year the county contracted for hot mix asphalt on County Road 530 near Diehlstadt, according to commissioners.