LAFAYETTE COUNTY – Ted Wiegel, chair of the Lafayette County Building and Insurance called the meeting held Monday, Feb. 16 at 9:00 a.m. to order.
    •Tony Wiegel, Head Maintenance at the courthouse, gave a report on the current status of the courthouse. Including a new rubber roof for the courthouse. Even the County Board veterans couldn’t remember when the last roof was put on. Wiegel’s best guess on the size of the roof was 70x70 square feet and he will look into getting a price.
    •Plaster in the courthouse was next. With the roof leaking, some of the plaster is in bad shape. A rough bid of $311,000 for all three floors. This will be put on the back burner, until the roof is taken care of.
    •The generator at the Health Department was checked into. Wiegel found it is in perfect working order when he put the generator through it’s paces. He did find out that it doesn’t kick in automatically and needs to be started manually if the power goes out.
    •Replacing lighting in the judges chambers. Wiegel is checking on replacing them with LED lights. Also checking into using the old fixtures with LED strips replacing the fluorescent bulbs.
    •Steam pipe leak under the courthouse. A steam pipe, part of the courthouses heating system has two leaks in a crawl space under the courthouse. It has created a musty, moldy condition in the crawl space and is not allowing the boiler to operate efficiently and needs to be addressed. The issue is asbestos is present. A firm that specializes in dealing with asbestos Dirty Duct Cleaning and Environmental Inc. was approved by the committee to fix the problem. A proposal of $4,560 and $400 for a DNR permit was accepted.
    •Passports – The Clerk of Courts department has stopped issuing passports. Teresa Siegenthaler (in the same department) volunteered to begin issuing passports again, by appointment only. Approved by committee.
    •Veterans Service Department – it had been suggested that the department be moved out of the courthouse to the Health Department or Co. K Building. The new Veterans Service department head, Samuel Fuller was present and he stated he preferred staying in the courthouse.
    •Old Lafayette County Highway radio tower – it as decided to try to sell the tower for antenna use, or for scrap.
    •Approved the sale of lower parking lot and sheds west of the courthouse by sealed bid.
    •Old Sheriff’s radio tower – again, it was decided to try to sell the tower for antenna use, or for scrap.
    •Approved the sale of five acres by the old sheriff’s tower location in Darlington Township by sealed bid.
    The proceeds for these last four items will be put towards the Multi-purpose facility.