News : Supervisors tour LEC, EOC again

Workers carry a limestone block to place it on south side of LEC, facing courthouse.

Concrete blocks are cut in preparation for installation on north side of LEC.

Supervisors Jason Sanders and Dave Vermedahl join Jerry Petermeier during tour of LEC.

Jerry Petermeier, right, explains to Ron Buch how the top of the roof will be finished and sealed.

A mason puts the finishing touches on a wall on the north side of the LEC.

Beginning May 1, Sheriff Randy Forsyth will have this view from his office window in the new LEC.

Scott Hansen went to the top of the courthouse and took a photo when the first machines started moving the first dirt as the digging began for the foundation of the Benton County Law Enforcement Center.

The date: June 3.

"It's hard to believe that they started digging in June, and they already have the building nearly enclosed," said Hansen on Tuesday morning. Hansen, along with the Benton County Supervisors and County Attorney Dave Thompson, toured the construction site during the supervisors' meeting.

The exterior brick work is nearly complete on all four sides of the building, and workers have begun installing the limestone blocks on the south side, which faces the courthouse.

Work on the roof continues, as laborers were installing the insulation and waterproof rubber roof membrane as the supervisors reviewed the progress from the roof.

Hansen also viewed the area that will become his new office. The new EOC will have an area for office space as well as a separate room for emergency operations. Both rooms are enclosed with thick concrete designed to withstand tornado-force winds. The 911 equipment room and the room where the radio dispatchers will work are also made from that reinforced concrete.

Workers have also begun work on the jail area. No walls are set up yet for the cells, but some of the heavy steel doors have been set in place.

Sheriff Randy Forsyth said he has been told the county can take possession of the building on May 1.