The Shawano County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved, by a 23-1 vote, an additional $14,000 for remodeling the former Health Department offices.
The area in the basement of the Shawano County Courthouse has been cleared of asbestos and is being converted into offices for Sheriff’s Department detectives and the evidence technician, as well as a storage area for technological devices seized as evidence in computer crime cases.
However, the $35,932 winning bid from Felts Construction approved earlier this month did not cover certain costs — such as carpeting and the installation of a separate heating and cooling system to protect the items in storage — and the project has doubled in size since June when the board OK’d $42,100 for the work.
Maintenance Director Steve Dreher requested an additional $19,000 for the project, but the Finance Committee last week stripped away most of the money earmarked for contingency items, reducing the request to $14,000.
The request caught some supervisors by surprise.
Supervisor Dennis Knaak, who voted against the funding request, said the board had previously been told the costs would not go up.
Supervisor John Ainsworth compared the project to constructing a building with no roof.
“Why was this not included? Were we bamboozled?” Ainsworth said.
Dreher said the $42,100 quote was for an office for the evidence technician and to store computers. Since then, officials changed the floor plan to include office space for the Sheriff’s Department’s detective division.
With the size increase, it was inevitable that the cost would go up, too, Dreher said.
“I was never asked to give a cost estimate for the revised floor plan,” he said.
County Board Chairman Jerry Erdmann said the board should approve the funding to avoid delaying the project.
“I think we have a good plan here,” Erdmann said. “I think we need to get this done. It’s been a long time since it’s been approved.”
Supervisor Randy Young, chairman of the Public Property Committee, pointed out that he had spoken out in September about the revised plan not coming before his committee but was given a “boohoo” from other supervisors.
“The County Board went ahead and approved that floor plan with the wrong price,” Young said. “So now you kind of get what you got.”
The money is coming out of the building maintenance department’s budget.
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