(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson county board of supervisors Thursday reviewed fine-tuned designs for the new courthouse, but stopped short of officially approving them. They’re scheduled to do that at their meeting this coming Tuesday. One of the supervisors, Wayne Northey, was out of town and unable to attend Thursday’s session.
In presenting some of the final designs for the project, arhitect Al Oberlander reported the size of the facility remains at the 63-thousand square feet that was in the bond issue proposal voters approved last year. Oberlander said he’ll come back in two weeks for a detailed review of plans, walls, flooring, ceiling materials and so on. He added they’re still in line for the May 15th deadline for completing all documents, which will be put out for bids shortly after that.
After hearing previous concerns about the possibility of groundwater causing problems in the basement of the new facility, Oberlander recommended a test pit be dug yet this winter to monitor the presence of any groundwater. He said if they still feel uncomfortable they could pursue other possible options in the spring. But Oberlander said he feels confident the water issues aren’t that serious based on soil tests that have already been conducted. Oberlander added that installation of a sophisticated underground drainage system and a waterproofing membrane around the basement are all included in cost estimates that were previously presented. Oberlander said options to expand the building vertically or horizontally if they decide to do away with the basement would drive the cost of the project well beyond the 14.9 million dollars that voters approved.
