photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., is pictured on Sept. 23, 2021.

Douglas County leaders will soon decide whether to move ahead on a $3 million project for safety and drainage improvements on a county road south of Lawrence.

At Wednesday’s meeting, county commissioners will consider whether to award a contract for improvements on North 1000 Road, or County Route 458, between East 1500 and East 1600 roads, just south of Lawrence and east of Wells Overlook Park. County staff is recommending that the contract be awarded to Oskaloosa-based Kings Construction Company, which offered the lowest bid at $3,035,036.15. Kings Construction was one of four companies to submit a bid; the other bids ranged from about $3.15 million to nearly $3.7 million.

Plans call for the project to adjust the roadway’s vertical profile to increase drivers’ sight distance when cresting hills. Two large culverts and four smaller culverts would be replaced and lengthened, and paved shoulders would be added to the roadway to improve traffic safety. Roadside ditches would also be reconstructed, and an eastbound right turn lane would be added at the intersection with East 1600 Road.

County staff is also asking commissioners to consider authorizing Public Works Director Chad Voigt to approve change orders totaling up to 5% of the contract amount; based on Kings Construction’s bid, that would be $150,000.

The road improvements are among the projects listed on the county’s last Capital Improvement Plan. County leaders got their first look at the county’s next CIP last week, and last week’s meeting agenda said a finalized version of the plan would be brought back this week for a vote. However, the finalized plan isn’t on the agenda for this week’s meeting, and it’s not clear whether it will be discussed further this week.

In other business, the commission will:

• Consider approving an additional $25,000 in funding for remodeling the accounts payable and payroll department areas of the Douglas County Courthouse. The added funding would bring the project’s total budget to $389,138.

Commissioners approved the original budget for the project at their July 27 meeting. The project will allow the departments to move some staff members from the building’s second floor into existing open space on the first floor.

County staff is requesting the additional funding for a number of reasons, including additional repairs of the historic plaster on walls and ceilings, exposing more of the original wood doorway openings, and refinishing the original hardwood flooring in the work room area instead of installing vinyl tile.

The project is being completed in two phases. The first phase focuses on the staff office areas, which are expected to be ready for re-occupancy by late November. Phase two will continue after staff has moved back into the remodeled office, and it will focus on the wall between the existing Douglas County Clerk’s office suite and the rotunda. The full project should be complete by the end of 2022.

• Hear an update from Kim Polson, the executive director of the nonprofit Community Children’s Center, during a work session. Polson will provide an overview of the nonprofit’s Early Childhood Community Center project, which is being funded with American Rescue Plan Act money granted to the Community Children’s Center earlier this year.

Because of water damage in the courthouse’s commission meeting room, Wednesday’s work session and meeting will instead take place in the Division 4 courtroom at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St. The work session will begin at 4 p.m., followed by the business meeting at 5:30 p.m. Normal Judicial and Law Enforcement Center security protocols will be followed, and members of the public will be screened at a checkpoint upon entry to the building. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.