(Spirit Lake)– On a vote of three to nothing, the Dickinson county Board of Supervisors this afternoon decided to conduct a survey to see what the majority of the public wants done about the courthouse. The cost is not to exceed 10-thousand dollars.
Prior to making the motion, Supervisor David Gottsche expressed reservation about spending money to fix up the 1891 part of the courthouse…even though a portion of the cost is to be covered through a local matching grant through the state historical society. He said there’s no way he would vote to spend the 619-thousand dollars that the needed improvements are estimated to cost. That figure was presented today by architect Mark Aspaas. It includes installing a sprinkler system, rennovating stair cases, replacing the roof, gutters, brick facade and windows; updating the electrical system and installing a fire alarm. Gottsche said he’s concerned it would amount to a lot of piece-mealing. Supervisor June Goldman disagreed…saying she’s confident it would be a good expenditure of taxpayer money. The supervisors took no action on whether or not to proceed with the projects outlined by Aspaas.
There was also another call at today’s meeting to get a feasibility study done on what it would take to purchase the Great Lakes Mall and rennovate it into a courthouse. A motion to that affect was made by Gottsche but died due to lack of a second.
Meanwhile, officials say it’s apparent some repairs will have to be made soon as the courthouse sustained a considerable amount of damage in the June 12th hail storm. Officials say seven to eight windows were broken. A couple have been boarded up. It’s also believed the roof sustained some damage. The county’s insurance adjustor has assessed the damage but hasn’t filed a formal report yet on the dollar amount and how much will be covered.
