Clerk of courts counter renovation to upgrade office security
Remodeling project being bid out
BY KEVIN BONESKE
REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER
Bids will be sought for a project intended to upgrade security in the Oneida County clerk of courts office.
The county’s Buildings and Grounds Committee agreed Monday to request bids for a remodeling project that will physically separate clerk of courts employees from the public entering the office. As depicted in a drawing of the project, a wall area 33 feet long and rising 8 feet, 9 inches off the floor would be built with seven windows and a door.
Assistant facilities director Troy Huber said the wall area would rise to about a foot below the ceiling so that there would still be airflow to the office.
“Otherwise we’d have to be changing all the duct work and everything,” Huber said. “That part of the building is tough to do.”
Committee member Scott Holewinski suggested adding some grills at the bottom of the wall area to let the air circulate.
“Otherwise, you won’t have the air moving,” Holewinski said.
The drawing further shows the project to redo the counter area for the clerk of courts office would have four of the windows with only one-way viewing and the other three windows being the split-sliding variety. New vinyl laminate flooring would be included in the area accessible to the public, which would utilize two existing doors for entering and exiting.
“It will create a better flow of traffic,” said facilities director Lu Ann Brunette. “There won’t be the bottleneck that there currently is.”
In addition to making the office area secure for employees, Brunette said the remodeling would also accommodate individuals coming there for e-filing, for which access is now mandatory in Wisconsin.
Brunette said only people allowed back behind the counter would have access through the door with the swipe-card system to be used.
“You won’t have access by just walking in the gate anymore,” she said.
Brunette said the project also includes “a lot of cabinetry, which really needs to have a professional cabinet maker do.”
Two options presented for the project at budget time, Brunette said, included having windows with or without bulletproof glass.
“When we initially submitted that, it was fine with the district court administrator,” she said. “They’ve asked that we talk about possibly putting in an option on this bid spec for some sort of ballistic barrier material on the glass. It’s not as expensive as the actual ballistic barrier glass.”
“3M makes bullet-resistant film to put right onto the glass,” added Huber.
Committee members agreed to advertise the project with an alternate bid for the glass.
Brunette said $35,000 has been budgeted for the remodeling project.
County clerk of courts Brenda Behrle said the office remodeling project would be similar to the layout for Marathon and Lincoln counties.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.