Courtroom to be renovated this summer

WASHINGTON — Town Board members discussed upcoming and critical renovations to the courtroom during their meeting Thursday, June 9.“The purpose of the renovations to the courtroom is too allow the judges some room to sit privately with perpetrators,” said Florence Prisco, town supervisor. “At this point the judges have no place to sit in this room with privacy. They have asked for years [for] a little private room.”The plans for the renovations are to move the handicapped bathroom and make a long room separate from the courtroom. Prisco said that a grant of $25,000 was received from the state in order to fund the renovations. “In addition to that we are doing air-conditioning reconstruction by taking the air-conditioning ducts and putting them in the ceiling,” she said. At the meeting bids for courtroom renovations and air conditioning modification were discussed. Town Clerk Mary Alex said there is an offer of $22,580 for the courtroom renovation; $4,600 was the lowest bid for the air conditioning work, with the total cost coming to $27,180. Prisco said she would also like to see the town clerk’s office fitted with a new air conditioner.“The air conditioning in the clerk’s office is dreadful,” she said. “There is no air conditioner in my office and Mary Alex has no air conditioning in her office either.“We put in a portable one in the windows every year. It cools it down a little, but it doesn’t really work,” Prisco added.Alex said the lowest bid to air-condition the clerk’s office was $5,300, bringing the cost of the renovations over the expected amount.It was suggested by Millbrook Mayor Laura Hurley that $10,000 be transferred through a budget amendment, so the project be paid for from the General A Fund instead of the fund balance. The town supervisor said that the air conditioning in the clerk’s office cannot be paid for through the grant; the grant will only go to the courtroom renovations and courtroom air conditioning. The board approved the bids for renovations on the courtroom and air conditioning. The board also approved a bid for air conditioning in the clerk’s office. The board agreed to use a budget amendment from the fund balance to the General A Fund, and any money left over would be transferred back to the fund balance.

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