Striking the right balance
By Daniel Arens
Every major construction or remodel project comes with its shares of hiccups, and of details that need to be smoothed out in the final days before the work can officially end.
For the Mercer County Courthouse and Jail expansion project, nothing has proved as challenging in the last months of checklists and cleanups as the issue of air balance.
Jim Albers, Mercer County Maintenance Department supervisor, addressed the issue again at a July 20 meeting of the county commission, as well as possible ways to fix the problem. When the new addition was made, the air levels between the buildings were not correct, resulting in discomfort for some of the county employees.
Air Dynamics, the subcontractor brought in to work on air flow, agreed to fix the balancing in the new sheriff’s and state’s attorney area at no cost to the county, but the commission also wants to see the old courthouse area balanced, and not at county expense.
