County Board votes to replace courthouse HVAC and roof

QUINCY — The Adams County Board voted Tuesday night to spend more than $9.5 million to replace the roof and HVAC system at the courthouse at 5th and Vermont.

The board opted to support local companies, despite their bids not being the lowest in each category.

The $8.9 million bid from Peters Heating and Air Conditioning will cover the HVAC work. Todd Moore of Architechnics, who is consulting with the county on the project, said the Peters bid included items such as having to remove the unit’s cooling tower from the roof and utilizing a temporary HVAC system for the building during construction.

Peters bid also allowed for work to be done while the courthouse is closed, which means more overtime costs. Working during the off-hours allows for fewer disruptions and when Peters worked on the building’s system during mold remediation, they did much of that work when the courthouse was closed.

“There is a $565,000 difference between the bids, but when you start to look closely at what was included, you quickly realize that can make up that difference pretty easily,” Moore said.

Keck Heating and Air will also be subcontracted to do some of the HVAC work as part of the bid.

The board also accepted a $688,880 bid from Full Service Roofing of Quincy to replace the building’s roof. Moore also stressed the timing and coordination of project is essential and having two companies both in Quincy should make easier for them to communicate and work together.

The project is expect to take about 18 months to complete. The board also voted to sell up to $9 million in bonds to cover the projects, but is also considering the use of debt certificates as part of the financing.

In Illinois, debt certificates may be issued by a governing body to divide its payment obligations under a lease or an installment contract into smaller denominations, similar to municipal bonds, and can be sold in the public markets. Debt certificates are paid from lawfully available funds of the governmental unit without using a tax levy

Finance Committee Chair Travis Cooley (R-District 4) said he hoped to have the financing options prepared for a vote by June at the latest.

The board also approved bids for several road projects, including:

• $1.287 million to Rees Construction of Quincy for the widening and resurfacing of 48th Street south of State Street.

• $248,370 to Diamond Construction of Quincy to resurface Long, Spring Lake and Fairway drives in the Spring Lake Estates subdivision.