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Logan County Board
Building and Grounds Committee discusses possible timeline for
livestreaming meetings
[November 11, 2026]
The Building and Grounds
Committee of the Logan County Board held their monthly meeting on
Monday, November 9th. There were many items discussed during this
meeting, including updates with the courthouse restoration project
and possible work to be done on the Scully Park fountain. One of the
items was a potential timeline as to when the county may be able to
start livestreaming their meetings, something that has been the
topic of several public comments over many months.
This meeting was held in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan
County Courthouse starting a little after 5:30 p.m. Present members
included Chairman Jim Wessbecher, Vice Chairman Hannah Fitzpatrick,
Dale Nelson, and Lance Conahan. Gil Turner was the only member not
in attendance. Fellow board member Kevin Knauer was also present, as
well as members-elect Mary Conrady, Cindy Gleason, and Ryan
Coughlin.
Two items under old business were the things discussed. There was a
very brief discussion over a proposal a company called SpyGlass made
the previous month. SpyGlass said that they will look into the
county’s bills to see if there are any the county is overpaying for,
and get those bills reduced or cancelled. Conahan shared that he
felt that the county had already done most of what SpyGlass would be
doing. Everyone agreed, but the item was left on old business to be
discussed again the following month.
The second old business item was
regarding an update on the Scully Park ice rink. Wessbecher stated
that the ice rink was up, but that there have not been many large
crowds yet. He spoke on trying to find a way to advertise the ice
rink with others before quickly moving on to new business.
There were many items under new business, starting with an update on
the courthouse restoration project given by Bill Walter with Masonry
Restoration Technologies and Services, Inc. (MRTS). Walter began
with an overview on the tile replacement project that is underway.
The first phase of the third floor is complete, and Walter shared
that the second phase is expected to be done as early as Friday. He
estimated that nearly half of the tile is down. A brief discussion
was had over trying to figure out a way to do the tile in front of
the third-floor courtroom without disrupting the daily flow of
business in the courthouse. Nelson asked if the project was on track
to be finished on time, and Walter stated that, so long as they
finish the second phase by Friday, they will be about a week ahead.
Walter then spoke on the exterior elevator, stating that it is still
working. He also said he is waiting to hear from TK Elevator on a
modified invoice regarding the fee they are going to have to pay for
going over their initially agreed upon time frame. In short, the
county wanted to make sure TK had incentive to get the project done
on time since, without an exterior elevator, the county would have
to rely on an exterior lift to maintain their Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. The county and TK agreed to a
$1,000 fine for each day over. TK went over by several weeks, and
Walter is negotiating with them on a price, as he does not think
they are going to be paying the full amount due to the sheer amount
of the fee.
Walter shared that the bell crib area is still being worked on, and
that the bell crib itself is expected to be put together on the 18th
or 19th.
Next on the agenda was a quote for the Latham Park bandstand. Walter
spoke on this item as well, sharing that the concrete floor is
deteriorating, and that they would want that supported so nothing
collapses. Of the companies that submitted a quote, Foster
Construction’s bid was the lowest. Nelson made a motion to approve
Foster’s bid, and it was unanimously approved.
Walter spoke on the next item too, which would be a heater for the
east entrance vestibule at the courthouse. There were quotes
submitted for this project. Walter shared that he asked the
companies to submit recommendations for the work as well as prices.
He said that one of the companies recommended a lighter, lower power
heater, while another company recommended a heavier, higher power
one. He felt the heavier one would be better, even though it was
over $2,000 more expensive. Walter explained this was due to the
heavier heater working better in colder weather and when doors are
opened frequently due to people coming in and out of the courthouse.
Conahan made a motion to approve this heavier heater from Union
Street Electric, which was a $4,000 bid total.
Walter spoke briefly on the handicap lift, which was set up while
the exterior elevator was being worked on by TK. He said that Bret
Aukamp with the County Highway Department may have a space to store
it in one of his buildings, something the county has been discussing
over the last few months.
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Walter spoke next
on a diaper changing station that is going to be installed in
the men's restroom. According to Walter, state law requires both
men and women’s restrooms to have a diaper changing station in
or near them.
Conahan was the next to speak. There
was a quote from Widmer Interiors for several chairs that the county
was looking to purchase for the first-floor courtroom. He stated
that the chairs would need to be stackable in case the courtroom was
needed for official business, the chairs could easily be stacked and
moved out of the way. Eight of the chairs would be for behind the
bench, and the other four would be taller chairs to go behind the
bench extension that the county had made special for the courtroom.
The total cost of the chairs would be $5,709, and a motion was made
and approved.
Conahan then spoke on the county being
able to livestream their meetings. According to Conahan, they would
be getting a new television in the room so that the members behind
the bench could see people who were attending the meeting via video
call. He shared that a microphone would be installed for each board
member. Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch also offered to come in and help
the county set up something similar to what the city has to
livestream their meetings. Conahan stated that he is hoping to start
livestreaming committee, workshop, and regular meetings as early as
February.
Chris Neaville, the county’s part-time grounds worker spoke on a
quote for work to the fountain at Scully Park. He shared that the
paint at the fountain is starting to bubble and crack. He reached
out to Petersburg Powerwashing, and they said they would take it
back down to concrete and repaint it, but that it would cost between
$20,000 and $40,000. Additionally, their quote expires on December
1st, but Neaville stated he felt the work would be better done in
spring when the weather is warming up. He shared that he wants more
quotes for the work but does not know who to contact.
The final new business item was regarding a discussion over a
Stratus internet connection the county has. This is something the
county signed up for when they updated their phones several months
back. Conahan stated that Heart IT, the county’s IT company, asked
why a second Comcast box was being installed, and Conahan did not
know. After some investigation, he discovered that what everyone on
the board believed was a fiber internet connection was actually a
second Comcast connection. This frustrated the committee, as they
worked for several months on getting a second internet connection in
case Comcast went down. A second Comcast connection would do nothing
for them if Comcast went out.
Conahan then shared that, after reaching out to Stratus, he was
given two options. The first option would be to pay an early
termination fee of over $6,000. The second option would be to update
their service to one of two more expensive fiber options. He told
the committee that they had been paying for this second Comcast
service for the last three months. They decided to speak to Keenan
Leesman, the board member who knows most about these kinds of
things, before making any decisions, pushing this item to old
business for next month’s meeting.
The last item was a use of grounds request from Julia Zanoza for a
nativity scene to be set up on the courthouse lawn. This is
something the committee has allowed for several years. Wessbecher
referred back to a LDN article from last year to confirm that the
committee did not require them to acquire liability insurance but
were going to reach out to Zanoza before the workshop meeting to
discuss this with her.
Bills were approved, and the only public comment was from Neaville.
He shared that he had painted the door at the Animal Control
building, but that the door was going to need to be replaced due to
the wood rotting in some places. After Neaville’s comments, the
meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
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