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County moving forward with roof replacement of Old Courthouse

By Howard B. Owens

It's time for the Old Courthouse in Batavia to get a new roof.

The current roof was installed in 1976. That restoration included replacing the copper around the edge of the roof and restoring the cupola, which had deteriorated to nothing but a frame.

Frank Ciaccia, facilities management for the county, said this afternoon that the copper should last 100 years, so it won't need to be replaced, but it's time for the cedar shingle roof to be replaced and the cupola needs some repairs.

The Ways and Means Committee approved a contract with SEI Design Group of Rochester to provide design services for the project.

Once plans are in place, a bid will go out for a contractor to complete the work.

The request for proposal for SEI is divided into two parts. There is a $15,790 cost for basic design work and $5,213 for hazardous materials design, if it turns out that phase of the project is required.

Ciacca told legislators he thought the two-part RFP was necessary to ensure the winner of the RFP would try to pull money from the hazardous materials design into the main design phase if it proved hazardous materials weren't necessary.

The current roof has been leaking but Terry Ross, supervisor of buildings and grounds, said the leaks have not caused any damage to the interior of the building.

John Stone

So, let me get this straight:
The old courthouse, I believe, is the one that we were told was not able to be upgraded or renovated, correct? (We were told that this was the reason they needed to raise revenue to build the "New Courthouse"... The old one couldn't be renovated.) I know I am not the only one who noticed that the renovation of the old courthouse started just after the new place was built.

Then we see stories where the Governor wants to organize an "anti-corruption" investigation... He'd save a whole LOT of taxpayer funding by looking for officials who are NOT corrupt! After both of the ones in New York have been identified, he should get rid of all the rest of them and replace them with people who do real work for a living!

Jul 3, 2013, 11:56am Permalink
Mark Brudz

The issue with the old court house wasn't that it couldn't be repaired, it was that it couldn't be renovated to accommodate increased case load There is a difference, a huge difference

Jul 3, 2013, 3:29pm Permalink

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