By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

HAYS – Construction costs on Ellis County’s major construction projects will come in only slightly above the estimated $14.3 million.

According to figures presented at Monday’s county commission meeting the county is over the budget by approximately $123,000 on the construction cost of the Emergency Services Building and the remodel of the courthouse and jail.

Commissioner Dean Haselhorst, who oversaw the project as the construction manager, said when he first began working in the role he thought the projects would come in considerably over budget.

He estimated, at that time they could have been almost $1 million over budget.

“I can say, by visiting with a local contractor, he said if we can stay under 10-percent over, which would’ve been $1.4 million over, the project is a success,” Haselhorst said.

He added, “I think if we come in at $123,000 tonight with some additional change orders coming that’ll be very minimal.”

Haselhorst also applauded the work done by the commission and county employees.

“We did a hell of a job,” Haselhorst said. “You guys all did a great job, thank you very much for all of your help and support.”

Haselhorst was appointed the construction manager by the commission following the resignation of then County Administrator Greg Sund.

Not taking any salary for the added position saved the county between $80,000 and $100,000 Haselhorst said.

In 2013 Ellis county voters approved the half-cent sales tax to pay for a major remodel of the county courthouse and jail – doubling the bed space to 72 – and to build a new Emergency Medical Services and Rural Fire Building. The sales tax will sunset in 2018 or when the projects are paid off, whichever comes first.

According to the figures compiled by the Ellis County Treasurer Ann Pfeifer, construction on the Emergency Services Building cost $4.049 million and the remodel on the courthouse and jail cost $10.431 million.

Haselhorst said there are still a few change orders outstanding and they should get the final numbers in August but they should not exceed $200,000.

In other business, the commission gave the go-ahead for the public works department to try some “traffic calming” strategies to deal with a perceived speed limit issue in Pfeifer. Some members of the Pfeifer community complained about the speed of traffic moving through the area and had asked the county to look into the issue.

Buck Driggs with the Driggs design group presented the commission with the groups findings Monday and said they found the majority of the traffic of the traffic was driving approximately 35 mph. The speed limit in Pfeifer is 30 and the five mph is within the recommended speed under traffic guidelines.

Driggs said they did see about 10-percent of the public was driving in excess of the speed limit, especially during the afternoon hours and during Sunday morning.

He recommended changing signage, – moving speed limit signs – using the radar speed trailer and increasing enforcement as ways to deter speeding in that area.

Among the traffic calming ideas brought by Driggs was adding some pavement markings, adding crosswalks, lane markings and creating parking stalls.

Public Works Director Bill Ring said they plan to change the signage in the area and look into some of the traffic calming ideas.

In his department report to the commission, Ring said the three major storms over the last couple of months have cost his department $82,000. None of the funds are available for FEMA reimbursement.

In other business, the commission approved a Motorola service agreement for the county’s repeaters at the tower sites and the 911 dispatch consoles. Director of Fire and Emergency Management Darin Myers said the contract is 10-percent less than last year. But the reduction is because the equipment at the tower site can no longer be serviced or replaced and the county will have to look at replacing those. Myers said they have money for replacement consoles budgeted for next year. The contract is for $25,703.

The commission also made a motion to clarify the amount of money transferred from the wind farm PILOT to cover projects costs with the building projects.

The county will hold a public hearing on the 2017 budget at the regular Aug. 1 commission meeting.