The Morgan County courthouse, located in downtown Madison, will soon be getting some “much-needed” repairs. The Morgan County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the request at Tuesday’s meeting.
According to Assistant County Manager Mark Williams, the courthouse has been in need of some exterior repairs for several years now.
The repairs included painting - both exterior and interior - and fixing roof leakage on the building.
He stated there were several companies that put in bids for the project. He added that Skyline Construction Services Inc. – based out of Eatonton – was awarded the job.
Williams said the cost of the project would be $491,810.
“This is included in the FY23 (fiscal year 2023) budget and would be paid from SPLOST,” he added. “This is going to be rather extensive. It would probably be a six-month project once they get started. It will include some scaffolding and things like that, but it’s something that is very much needed.”
According to public records, Suncoast Restoration and Waterproofing, LLC - based out of Norcross - was the other bidder besides Skyline. However, their proposed cost of the project was $927,800.00.
Williams said that Skyline Construction worked on the roof of the Morgan County Administration Building a few years ago. He added that it was in the board’s best interest to accept the bid from Skyline.
District 2 Commissioner Andy Ainslie asked how long the painting and repairs would last.
“This is the first major exterior work we’ve had done to the courthouse since the remodel back in 2003-04,” Williams replied.
Local engineer Aaron Wadley spoke on the matter about the repairs.
“It’s an old building and things are deteriorating underneath the surface,” he said. “ They (Skyline) are going to replace the deteriorating metal. They can’t catch it all. The entire courthouse is covered in tin. Everything you see, it’s not wood. It’s wood covered in tin and it (the courthouse) is 100 years old. So, they’re going to repair and cover what they can. They’re using a premium coating (of paint) that may give us 10 solid years of having to do nothing on the outside.”
After a few minutes of discussion, the board unanimously approved the request for repairs to the courthouse.
Also, at the meeting, approval was given by the board to update the county phone system to a cloud-based system, which is included in the FY23 budget.
“This would increase our capabilities for (a) minimal additional cost,” Morgan County IT Director Trevor Giddens said in his agenda request to the BOC. “Included in the contract is free physical phones for all users.”
The next Morgan County BOC meeting will be held July 19, at 5 p.m.