Madison County continues to work on projects at facilities

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May 19, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Madison County continues to work on projects at facilities 

EDWARDSVILLE — Coronavirus is not stopping workers from completing maintenance projects or making upgrades at Madison County facilities.

“The Facilities Management staff has continued to work during the stay-at-home order,” Facilities Director Rob Schmidt said. “We have proceeded on projects that needed to be done and postponed others.”Schmidt said facilities staff are providing the labor on several projects to include restroom upgrades in the courthouse and renovation, expansion of the Veterans Assistance Commission offices, installing ADA counters in county offices, replacing of a large window at the Criminal Justice Center. Workers have also installed protective measures at public counters throughout the county

“With many county employees working from home and fewer people in the building we are able to complete more of the projects and catch up on other maintenance issues,” Schmidt said.

Last week, two new cooling towers arrived and the Administration Building to replace the original ones installed in 1992. GRP Mechanical Co, Inc. of Bethalto installed the towers.

Schmidt said work is also set to start on a $66,000 landscaping project that is paid with the county’s host tipping fees. The Facilities Committee passed a resolution awarding the bid for the project to Garden Kingdom of Glen Carbon and the County Board will take action on it Wednesday night.

Schmidt said the Edwardsville Garden Club helped put together the plan to replace the landscaping after the Sheriff’s Department requested the removal of trees upon installing a new camera/security system.

“Maintenance crews have also been able to catch up on the backlog of work orders,” he said. “We are at 61, down from a tally of 300.”

Chairman Kurt Prenzler said with fewer people in county facilities it’s been helpful for getting the projects complete and ahead of schedule. 

“Facilities is taking advantage of the opportunity to get as many projects done as possible,” Prenzler said. 

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