Board approves moving forward with Highland Annex building renovations

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has agreed to pursue replacing the metal batten panels, fascia, and soffits at the Highland Annex building.
During the regular Board of Supervisors meeting Oct. 18, the supervisors received a maintenance update from maintenance supervisor Dan Wright. Wright said he was seeking input from the supervisors as he was looking at getting a lift, and wasn’t sure how long to get the rental for.
“I need to rent a lift to measure the upper windows at the courthouse to see how many we have left needing repair. However, at Highland Annex, I’ve finally gotten prices for replacing the batten, fascia, and soffits for Highland Annex,” Wright said. “If we’re thinking about doing this and want to order the steel before the winter, I would need to get the lift for a week or so, and drive it up to Highland Annex after I examine the windows at the courthouse and then take off a couple of sections so I can get exact measurements, since they’re going to cut the steel exactly the length I need them at.”
Wright said the batten was similar to aluminum siding, and is currently lined around the top of the Highland Annex building. He intended to use a batten that was a similar color to the brushed aluminum color on the building.
According to Wright, there were limited options on getting new batten material for the project.
“The only people that carry batten are Delta Metals on Highway 34. The United Farmers Cooperative can’t get anything like this batten, they can only get standing seam metal that resembles barn steel. The price for the batten, fascia, and soffits from Delta metals is $9,000 for the steel, all the trim pieces, fascia, and soffits, and everything will be cut to size,” commented Wright.
Wright added he felt this final repair would take care of any exterior problems at the building.
“If we proceed with this, there will be nothing on the building that ever has to be painted, everything will be metal, and there will be nothing left to do to the outside of that building,” Wright said. “I also feel this will end the water problems. Whenever we get a rain, and the wind is out of the right direction, it blows it up underneath the existing batten, then goes into the drywall and seeps down it onto the ceiling tiles. The cost of ceiling tiles is around $8 now, and they used to be $4.”
Supervisor Donna Robinson asked, if approval was given to proceed, what the availability was for the materials. Wright said Delta Metals felt they could get all the materials and cut them to size in two to three weeks. In addition to the metal, Wright said there would be a few other costs to complete the project.
“I got a price for wood, and I’m not sure at this point how much I’ll need, so I got a quote estimate for around $1,200. I’ll also need to rent a lift for about a month, and that’s $2,850 to rent the lift for a month,” stated Wright.
Supervisor Mike Olson asked if American Rescue Plan Act funding would be used for the project’s cost. Wright said he felt the money could come from the Highland Annex maintenance budget. Wright also got prices for barn steel, but questioned its appearance.
“It’s a little cheaper, but I’m not sure if we should be putting barn steel on a commercial building that renters are paying for. Also, based on the size of the barn steel, I’d have additional labor involved.”
Wright said if he was unable to complete all the work before winter set in, he could store the leftover materials at the maintenance shed at the law enforcement center until the weather cleared again.
The supervisors were in agreement with Wright to seek out the materials and check with the auditor’s office to confirm the source of the funding.