Courthouse HVAC system to be replaced

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Cullman County Engineer John Lang (foreground), with Commissioner Kerry Watson, left, Chairman Kenneth Walker, center and Commissioner Garry Marchman, right at Tuesday’s meeting (Maggie Darnell for The Cullman Tribune)

CULLMAN, Ala. – The Cullman County Commission hopes to soon replace the HVAC system at the Cullman County Courthouse.

“We are going to have to do something,” said Chairman Kenneth Walker. “The week before the 4th (of July) we had a breakdown. If Dye Services hadn’t been so good and worked overtime to get us back on, we would have had to close the courthouse.”

The current HVAC system is at least 50 years old, according to the commission, which sent out letters to five recommended mechanical engineering firms. Cornerstone Engineering Group out of Decatur was the only one to respond, and the commission voted Tuesday to retain Cornerstone and have it conduct a survey to help determine the best HVAC system for the courthouse.

The commission also voted to allow Walker to enter into a contract with Cornerstone Detention Products, Inc. to replace the 32 cell door locks in Block B at the Cullman County Detention Center. The cost of the project is $59,535.

Cullman County Sheriff’s Office Major Matt Hogue explained, “It’s replacing the locks. For years, inmates have worked on defeating locking systems. Of course, that’s a danger to our people. We’ve had them (the new locks) in C Block and had no problem and they’ve done great so now we are putting them in B Block.”

A public hearing has been set for Sept. 4, 2019 for the proposed vacation of a portion of Cullman County Road 319. The portion under consideration is 0.05 acres of land in the cul-de-sac at the end of County Road 319.

The commission also approved the following agenda items:

  • Surplus of AS 400 computer system from the water department
  • One-year bond extension for Timber Ridge Subdivision located at District 2 on County Roads 2113, 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117 and 2118
  • Bid extension for gas and diesel to B & B Petroleum for $0.05 over rack price
  • Awarded bid for track mounted hydraulic excavator to Thompson Caterpillar- 5-year lease for $1,275 a month
  • Accepted bid from Eckenrod Ford for a 2019 F350 heavy/super duty truck for $46,334.50 for the sanitation department
  • Aggregate bid split between Blount Springs and Madison Materials

The next commission work session is Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 8:30 a.m., followed by the commission meeting at 10 in the commission meeting room at the Cullman County Courthouse.

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