NEWTON, Kan. — The Harvey County Commission recently approved moving ahead with construction to remodel the county-owned building at 215 S. Pine St. in Newton, and there is an item on Tuesday's meeting agenda to set the amount of changes that can be approved without going through the commission process. The suggestion is that anything under $15,000 be able to be approved by staff.
The commission accepted a bid from Vogts Construction for $1,877,000 for the project. Vogts' was the lowest of four bids received. The project is anticipated to fall under budget - the commission set aside about $4.1 million in its adopted 2025 budget for the total costs of the renovation.
The county began the process to buy the three-story building in 2022. The county had rented the second floor of the facility for the Harvey County Health Department since 2015, which remains in the same location after the purchase was finalized.
The Pine Street facility will be renovated to eventually move other county departments into the building. The State of Kansas directed two judgeship positions be added to the Ninth Judicial District in 2022, which will require more judicial space at the Harvey County Courthouse. Utilizing the building on Pine Street for county departments will help alleviate space concerns.
Construction on the Pine Street remodel is scheduled to begin January 6, 2025. The Harvey County Commission meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Harvey County Courthouse.