Metro East Sun

The Madison County Facilities Management Committee is taking advantage of the low foot traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic to tackle some county projects.

Facilities Director Rob Schmidt spoke of the women's restroom renovation on the main floor of the Madison County Courthouse,  a labor-intensive undertaking. “It’s a great time to do it, because the courthouse is not being occupied right now,” Schmidt told The Telegraph. “It’s going well.” 

They are also taking advantage of this renovation as an opportunity to repair and replace pipes. When work began they found that many of the copper pipes had corroded. Without the project, Schmidt said they may not have known about the conditions of the pipes until there was a failure.

Cooling towers have been replaced on the roof of the Administration Building. Other projects include repairs to the Veterans' Assistance Commission Office and installing ADA-compliant counters at various county offices. 

The backlog of outstanding work orders has shrunk from more than 300 to 61.

“That’s quite an improvement over the last year or so,” Schmidt said. “It’s easier when there are not people here. So we’re taking advantage of the situation.”

Coronavirus-related projects are also being completed, including installing plexiglass shields at the courthouse. A team of three is also cleaning and disinfecting every day. 

“I know we don’t have a lot of people coming in, but we do have people coming in and we’ve been working with (Health Department Director) Toni Corona,” he said.

The committee approved a $67,000 bid from Garden Kingdom of Glen Carbon to landscape the grounds, install new sod and repair the sprinkler system on the Courthouse and Administration Building grounds. The Madison County Sheriff's Department Court Security requested that trees around both buildings be removed to improve security camera coverage. Someone had also been injured on the hawthorn tree's thorns that had fallen. 

Native plants will be installed as part of the landscaping. The contract also includes maintenance. 

Most of the funding comes from fees levied on trucks bringing trash into county landfills. That funding must be used for environmentally related projects.

The resolution has also been approved by the Finance and Government Operations Committee and goes to the full Madison County board next week.