AUBURN — With frustration growing on the two-plus-year attempt to finalize an estimate to revamp the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system at Androscoggin County Courthouse and Jail, the County Commission placed a hold Wednesday on four building projects and scheduled a workshop next month to discuss the viability of the 166-year-old complex.
The four projects, which were previously approved but not started, total nearly $800,000. They include new flooring, renovating the basement, installing an updated fire alarm system and adding a new meeting room for the County Commission.
The board unanimously approved the motion by Commissioner Brian Ames of Lewiston to place the four projects on hold. Commissioner Garrett Mason of Lisbon urged his colleagues to consider holding talks on the future of the facility.
“We need to have an honest discussion about this building,” Mason said. “I believe it is an urgent matter.”
Mason questioned the millions of dollars being spent to upgrade the Turner Street complex, which was built in 1857. He added that he saw a need to have a conversation about a potential new building.
He is particularly agitated about the long-delayed plan to upgrade the HVAC system. Originally expected to cost less than $3 million when it was first proposed, before Mason was appointed to the board in January 2022, the estimate grew to $5 million.
In February, the lone bid on the project totaled more than $8 million, which stunned county officials. A project manager is working with the county to cut the bid down to $5.5 million, but County Administrator Clarice Proctor said Wednesday crews were having a difficult time reaching that price level.
“This is the longest estimation project that I have ever seen in my life,” Mason said. “It could be another 1 million, 2 million. After that point, the costs go to the taxpayer.”
Others agreed.
“We need concrete numbers that don’t change every month,” Commissioner Terri Kelly of Mechanic Falls said. “We need real numbers, not smoke and mirrors.”
Another commissioner asked, “Do we even need a new HVAC system?”
The workshop on the future of the building is scheduled for May 10 at 5:15 p.m. Proctor was instructed to talk to her department heads on the physical needs of each department.
Commissioner Edouard Plourde of Lewiston said if the county is to remain at the courthouse, “we need a master plan for the next five, 10, 25 years.”
The discussion came near the end of a three-hour meeting Wednesday, following another round of presentations by the Franco Center, Maine MILL and SeniorsPlus, who are seeking American Rescue Plan Act funds from the county.
Proctor told the board that, not counting the $5 million already earmarked for the HVAC project, the county has $2.7 million left in ARPA funds. Requests from the three organizations total $3.1 million, she said.
“These are all valid projects,” Mason said. “They’re great. I want to give money to all of them, but the county comes first.”
With the possibility of a more expensive HVAC system, the county could face additional needs by the District Attorney’s office for a new computer system to replace its antiquated system that is no longer being supported.
That is when Ames came up with his list of projects to halt. He said the meeting room for commissioners should be last on the list of priorities.
Commission Chairwoman Sally Christner of Turner complained about the board being told the alarm system needed replacing because the current one does not meet code. However, she said a recent inspection showed that was not the case.
In other business, Proctor noted that Part 1 of the state budget was approved and signed, and flat-funded the county jails for next year. If Part 2 does not include any supplemental funding for the jails, she said, that could create funding problems for the jail.
She expects interviews to begin next week to find her replacement for the position of county finance director/treasurer. She has been doing double duty, serving in this position while working as county administrator.
Proctor said she was chosen by Berry Dunn, a national accounting firm assisting the county in its administration of ARPA funds, to participate as a panelist on a national webinar presented by the Association of Government Auditors discussing ARPA and internal controls.
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