Supervisors get inside view of new Columbia County buildings – WiscNews

Two-and-a-half years ago, Columbia County Supervisor Andy Ross of Poynette let out a quiet whoop as Supervisor Susanna Bradley of the town of Caledonia cast the 21st and deciding yes vote on a $45.51 million building project the biggest in county history.

On Wednesday, Ross walked the hallways cluttered with construction materials of the two-story Health and Human Services Building, and reflected.

I always expected that Id be here someday, he said, and that these buildings would look as good as they do.

Most of the 28 county supervisors, and some of the countys department heads, got an inside look at the nearly completed three-story Administration Building and the HHS building, which is on the other side of the Portage Canal.

The structures are connected by an enclosed walkway that, on Wednesday, had more traffic than usual, though construction workers have been using it for months.

As County Board Chairman Vern Gove of Portage sat down at a table in the County Boards new meeting room in the Admin Building for a sub sandwich lunch provided by J.H. Findorff and Sons, the firm managing the buildings construction he declined to speculate as to whether the County Board might hold its first meeting in the space in June or July.

Theyd better, said Supervisor Kirk Konkel of Portage, because all of the countys departments, including the courts, need to be out of the courthouse at 400 DeWitt St. by July 10.

Non-court-related departments will start moving out of the Courthouse and the Annex at 120 W. Conant St. in May, and are expected to be settled in sometime in June.

The HHS Building wont be occupied by HHS (except for HHSs accounting and public health divisions) right away. It will be the temporary courthouse, while the courthouse undergoes renovations so it can be used for court-related purposes only.

County Clerk Susan Molls first-floor office in the Administration Building didnt look move-in ready yet. But its definitely taking shape.

Moll showed supervisors the counter and adjacent waiting area, where the public can go to obtain services from the clerks office, such as marriage licenses.

The clerks office itself will be for employees only, and Moll said she likes what she sees.

My staff will be along those windows, she said, and my office will be over there in the corner.

The Administration Building has plenty of windows, but not all the vistas are glorious.

The tall, vertical windows of the County Board room, for example, look out onto the backs of buildings on East Edgewater Street.

Boy, you cant say that the County Board set itself up in a room with a scenic view, Ross deadpanned.

But Supervisor Jo Ann Wingers of the town of Courtland saw only one thing when she walked into the new County Board room, and she liked it.

We have windows! Its fantastic! she exclaimed.

Thats not all there is to like about the space, Gove said.

It includes moveable walls, so that the room can be divided into smaller meeting rooms that are still more spacious and conveniently located than many of the rooms where County Board committees meet now.

And, he said, the County Board room will be furnished with the latest in technology, including video screens and a machine to tell how each supervisor voted on each issue.

All our votes will be roll-call votes, he said.

Steve Klaven, Findorff general project manager, said the buildings technological features will be among their many assets.

I think youre going to have counties (officials) coming from all over to see them, he said. This is going to be a landmark project, I think.

County Board Vice Chairwoman Mary Cupery of the town of Fort Winnebago observed that seeing the structures interior was, for her, an eye-opener.

With all the floor plans and blueprints, she said, you cant imagine it until you see it.

Follow Lyn Jerde on Twitter @LynJerde

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Supervisors get inside view of new Columbia County buildings - WiscNews