The Wayne County Commissioners stretched their regularly scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 20 meeting into Wednesday so that they could meet with Berggren Architects, the firm handling the planning of the Wayne County Courthouse exterior renovation project. In October's meeting, bids came in well over Berggren's estimate so the commissioners tasked Jake Geisert and Jerry Berggren with finding ways to bring the cost down. The duo suggested a few things, but ultimately more work is needed.
Geisert and Berggren told the commissioners that after their last meeting they re-evaluated where they were at in the project. Berggren said he then determined that the courthouse oriels and roof were items that needed the most attention at the time being. Previously, Berggren and Geisert were told by the State Historical Society that copper-clad oriels, as planned in the project, would prohibit the county from receiving tax credits on the project. Initially, Berggren told the commissioners to think about holding off on that aspect of the project for five years, which would clear the project from the Historical Society's jurisdiction.
Wednesday morning, however, Berggren and Geisert suggested the commissioners withdraw the current application to the Historical Society, move forward on a $316,000 bid to do oriel and roof work, re-submit an application once the roof and oriel work is finished, and host a masonry workshop in the tuck-pointing technique that is causing bids to be high.
"We've negotiated as best we could," Geisert said. "It boils down to an uncertainty (of the technique and mortar) for them."
The uncertainty comes from Berggren's insistence on using a lime-heavy old-fashioned mortar unused in the U.S., and the requirement that masons do much of the brickwork by hand.
"They're (the bidders) plugging in about half of a million dollars of uncertainty," Berggren added.
Berggren told the commissioners he had been in touch with the Nebraska Masonry Alliance, who would be interested in supporting a workshop of that nature, both by suggesting their members attend and financially. Berggren told the commissioners that he hoped a workshop in the technique would allay masons fears and uncertainty.
The Wayne County Commissioners voiced their own uncertainties. The commissioners were concerned about breaking the projects into smaller pieces, but were even more concerned that there was no indication of what the realistic cost would be.
"I understand doing things in stages," commissioner Randy Larson said. "What I don't like is doing things in stages when we don't know an end number. What you're saying is 'let's get started and see where we end up.'"
The commissioners asked Berggren and Geisert to go back and get a firm estimate for the oriel and roof work to be presented in December.
They also approved a motion to work with the Nebraska Masonry Alliance to set up a workshop. The commissioners stressed that they did not want the County to fund the endeavor unless it was for materials for work to be done on the courthouse as part of the workshop.
The next Wayne County Commissioners meeting will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Courthouse.
