Knoxville —
The Marion County Board of Supervisors held lengthy discussions with two elevator service providers at a special meeting Wednesday morning. No action was taken beyond asking a State official to inspect the courthouse elevator, to assess what should be done to bring the apparatus into compliance with state and federal laws.
The supervisors met first with a representative from Otis Elevator. Otis is the company that installed the elevator in 1977.
Craig Clybaugh, the representative from Otis, gave the board a preliminary bid of $54,000 for work, not including replacement of the elevator's cylinder. The cylinder is a 40-foot piece of steel that moves the elevator up and down. Though the elevator still has the original, 35-year-old cylinder, it is in compliance with current laws.
Consideration is being given to replacing the cylinder at the same time the other work is done to the elevator. Otis' bid to replace the cylinder is an additional $35,000. Total cost if all Otis has proposed would be $90,200.
Clybaugh said he did not think his company could start the project before Jan. 1. The proposed work, without cylinder replacement, would take Otis three weeks. If the cylinder is replaced, an additional two to three weeks would be needed.
The other elevator company to speak to the board, Schumacher, believes it can complete all of the work, including the cylinder, in approximately four weeks. Schumacher's tentative bid is $59,157, with four options that include cylinder replacement ($29,500); a new cab ($15,000); adding another floor to the elevator's route ($26,000). If all of these options were exercised, the cost would be $130,000.
More research is necessary before a decision is made. A decision regarding which repairs to make to the elevator will be made based upon recommendations of the State inspector. Firm bids for those repairs will be sought at that time. Coordination with officers on the upper levels of the courthouse will also have to be done, before the elevator is shut down for any period of time, to allow uninterrupted public access to services.
In other action, the board approved the purchase of a new pickup for the Maintenance Department from Ulrich Motors. Cost of the truck is approximately $23,000.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 27, at 8:30 a.m.
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