photo by: Journal-World

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

A $1.6 million remodeling project for the Douglas County Treasurer’s Satellite Office could move forward this week.

At Wednesday’s Douglas County Commission meeting, county leaders will consider authorizing Douglas County Administrator Sarah Plinsky to enter into a $1,256,000 construction contract with Icon Structures Inc. for the project. They’ll also consider approving a total project budget of just over $1.6 million.

As the Journal-World has reported, the current satellite office in south Lawrence is moving into a larger location in west Lawrence at 2601 W. Sixth St. this year. The new office is about double the size of the 2,500-square-foot space at 2000 W. 31st St. where the satellite office has been located for the past eight years or so.

According to Wednesday’s meeting agenda, Icon Structures was the lowest of two bidders for the project. The Journal-World has previously reported that the project’s cost will be covered in part by $650,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the remaining cost taken from the county’s Capital Improvement contingency fund.

Renovations at the new office will involve a complete gutting of the space, which is currently divided into several offices. Jimmy Wilkins, the county’s director of buildings, grounds and maintenance, previously told the Journal-World that the county hoped the new office would be operational by the second quarter of 2024.

In other business, commissioners will:

* As part of the meeting’s consent agenda, consider a motion to waive the county’s purchasing policy and authorize staff to issue a blanket purchase order for 2024 legal services provided by John Bullock with Seyferth Blumenthal & Harris in the amount of $250,000, and an additional blanket purchase order for Stevens & Brand in the amount of $100,000.

Bullock has served as the county counselor since December 2015. According to Wednesday’s meeting agenda, Bullock left Stevens & Brand in late 2023 and is now working with Seyferth Blumenthal & Harris, a firm in Kansas City, Missouri.

The agenda notes that last year county staff asked the County Commission to waive its purchasing policy to authorize a similar blanket purchase order in the same total amount since such purchase options “provide a streamlined approach for recurring services, allowing us to promptly address legal matters as they arise.” With Bullock’s change in firms, county staff is now recommending this split between the two firms.

* Consider approving the 2024 tow operators agreement.

The county authorizes annual agreements with area tow contractors to participate in a nonpreferential tow rotation list used by staff at the county’s Emergency Communications Center. The agreements outline and codify the guidelines and costs associated with towing vehicles related to requests for nonpreferential tows received by the ECC from law enforcement.

Wednesday’s meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse at 11th and Massachusetts streets. The meeting can also be viewed via Zoom.