Hall County Courthouse, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – Hall County Commissioners voted 5-2 July 9 to approve a $35.8 million maximum price for the Hall County Courthouse addition.
Hall County Commissioners Gary Quandt and Karen Bredthauer voted against the motion.
Commissioners also voted 5-2 to accept a recommendation from Chief Industries for the subcontractors for the courthouse addition. Quandt and Bredthauer voted against the motion.
After the meeting, Bredthauer said that the maximum price did not include the $38 million interest on the $40 million bond for the courthouse addition. She also said the price did not include furniture for the courthouse addition.
Lance Bachman, senior project manager for Chief Construction, said good bids were received from good subcontractors for the project.
“We tried to make it the best for the county,” he said.
Bredthauer mentioned and has previously brought up the costs for two medical office buildings that are being constructed and has asked why the courthouse cost couldn’t be closer to those figures.
She said that a 66,000 square foot medical office building is being constructed at Prairie Commons for $32 million. She also said that a 40,000 square foot medical office building is being constructed on Capital Avenue for $15 million. She said that the county could have constructed a separate addition adjacent to the courthouse.
Bredthauer said she does not understand how the cost per square foot can be so much different between the two medical office buildings and the courthouse addition.
Quandt said the commissioners had five votes to make “this historic mistake.” He said what the county is doing with the courthouse addition project is wrong.
Quandt pulled out a small replica of a toilet with replica money being flushed down the toilet. Commissioner Jane Richardson grabbed the replica and threw it in a wastebasket.
“I have nothing against Chief Industries,” Quandt said.
Commissioner Pam Lancaster said there is a possibility that a small mural will be painted on an exterior wall near where the old jail stood.
At the start of the July 9 meeting, commissioners discussed homes and businesses that had sustained damage in the recent flood. Board Chairman Ron Peterson said that if the damage exceeds 20 percent of the valuation, the building owner can file to have the valuation decreased.
Representatives of Chief Industries and Davis Design address Hall County Commissioners about the maximum price for the addition to the Hall County Courthouse, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
