Commissioners a no-show for courthouse presentation

None of the county commissioners accepted the invitation to hear a presentation about the exterior condition of the downtown courthouse during last week’s meeting of the County-Owned Property Committee.
“I do not see putting you through another presentation if the people who need to hear it aren’t here,” Chair Phyllis Corso said to Hiram Rash, one of the owners of GoinsRashCain, Inc. Construction Services and its affiliate company, CainRashWest Architects.
Rash presented his report, “Washington County Courthouse Remedial Repair and Restoration,” to COP members during their November 2013 meeting.
According to his findings, the majority of the exterior damage is the result of long-term water leakage. Without knowing the full extent of that damage, Rash said he was unable to provide a guaranteed maximum price, but he included a cost control budget of $435,000 that would cover general requirements, painting, lighting, pigeon feces removal, scaffolding, electrical work, repairs and replacement of trim and moulding. Rash’s fee would be an additional 5 percent of the total.
Corso suggested at that time a called meeting of the full board be scheduled to hear the report from Rash, and the goals and objectives for the project were included in that month’s commission meeting packet.
“The entire county commission was invited even though they got late notice because we were trying to set the date,” Corso said of the email sent less than one week before the May 14 meeting. “I see none here, and we’ve all heard this.”
Rash repeated at last week’s meeting there is still a lot of unknown information that could impact the cost of the exterior renovation.
COP member Doyle Cloyd asked if Corso would take the presentation to the commission meeting, and she said possibly, or consider distributing printed copies for review and scheduling a follow-up meeting.
While plans for the exterior remain in limbo, commissioners at their March meeting approved allocating $150,000 to complete the interior renovations. Purchasing Agent Willie Shrewsbury said the contract submitted by Rash for the work is being reviewed by the county attorney, and the target deadline for completion is June.