Courthouse renovations
kindle fire safety concerns

Wayne White
Managing Editor

A short agenda does not always mean a short meeting, as the Osage County Commission found out Monday. Commissioners finished agenda business in the morning, but spent most of the afternoon hashing out details in next year’s budget with the county’s auditor, Scot Loyd, of Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk, & Loyd LLC.

In other unscheduled business, commissioners heard from Steve Zerr, a field inspector with the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s office. According to Osage County Clerk Rhonda Beets, concerns about the safety of new windows to be installed at the courthouse prompted commissioners to request an inspection of the courthouse by the fire marshal. Zerr spent part of the afternoon explaining his inspection report that resulted in a 10-page notice of violations.

Violations pertained to emergency exits, emergency lighting and signage, openings between floors, lack of emergency plans, elevator smoke alarm testing, and no fire alarm system.

The county will have 30 days to answer the notice of violations, afterwhich the fire marhal’s office and the commissioners will begin working to correct the deficiencies. The process might take several years and require an architect’s involvement.

In other business, the commissioners:

• approved scheduling a public hearing for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 18 to allow input on whether a portion of South Adams Terrace near the west end of Pomona Lake should be closed.

• agreed to have a fence viewing on Aug. 15 in rural Burlingame at the request of Tom Quaney who shares a fence with Leonard and Edna Percival.

• heard from road and bridge supervisor Glen Tyson that oil prices will affect the cost of the county’s road work. Commissioners also approved striping county roads with yellow paint during the summer striping project.

• heard from Jay Zimmerscheid, of Treanor Architects, regarding the cost of renovating the courtroom. Osage County Attorney Brandon Jones, court clerk Charna Williams, and magistrate judge Steven Jones discussed with commissioners funding options for the project, which Zimmerscheid estimated to cost about $400,000.

• discussed the ongoing remodeling of the county jail and renovations in the county clerk’s office. Commissioners approved a deadline for the contractor to complete the project by noon Aug. 15. The project that added six beds to the jail, along with other minor renovations, is near completion except for cosmetic finish work.