by April Scheinoha
Reporter

Pennington County Commissioner Darryl Tveitbakk probably said something that was on everyone’s mind Tuesday, Jan. 8. He referred to the Justice Center as the project that never ends.

At that time, County Board approved $50,974 in unforeseen expenditures related to the Justice Center. That amount includes $3,620.93 in reductions related to the project.

Commissioners voiced their frustrations after learning that the two Justice Center elevators are unable to be connected to the emergency generator as it stands right now. One is the public elevator, and the other elevator is the secure elevator that transports inmates from the jail to court.

Pete Filippi, representing Contegrity Group, noted that the Justice Center experienced a power outage a couple of months ago. No one was in the elevators at the time. If anyone had been in the elevator, they would have had to wait to exit until power was restored.

Tveitbakk said he was “extremely disappointed” in project engineer Todd Peterson, who had been contracted through BKV Group. He said Peterson should have known the amount of energy that the county would use on the backup generator.

“I do sense your frustration,” said Filippi. “We’ve got to work through this.”

County leaders were given a few options. Filippi said a battery lowering unit could be installed, or he could try to remove some other electrical items from the backup generator. However, Filippi cautioned that the elevators require a large amount of horsepower.

Commissioners ultimately decided to approve a quote of $7,275 per elevator car from MEI – Total Elevator Solutions. The company will provide a battery lowering unit for each elevator car and assorted related wiring.

In a separate motion, County Board approved hooking the remainder of the Law Enforcement Center up to the backup generator. That change is expected to cost $21,143.

Tveitbakk said this issue should have been addressed in the first place.

“Are we stuck between a rock and a hard place again?” Chairperson Bruce Lawrence asked.

“We are,” said Tveitbakk, who expected the County Board would revisit this issue in the future.

In separate motions, the County Board also approved:
• A $15,281 bid from Concrete Design. The bid was for a floor covering in the jail.
• A total of $3,620.93 in reductions related to the Justice Center project. The majority of the reductions pertained to beams that were deleted from the contract.

The $18.3 million Justice Center project budget includes contingency and general conditions funds. Those funds are currently $161,368.99 more than anticipated. Filippi said that the county expects to recoup some of those costs from the state for courtroom electronics.

In the past, County Auditor-Treasurer Ken Olson said that the county has $375,000 in its capital improvement budget that can be used for any additional costs associated with the Justice Center. He estimated that an additional $380,000 is available from tax-forfeited lands.

Remodeling work continues on the former jail as part of the Justice Center.