News : New building issue for county: Repairing facility rented to DHS

Water is leaking inside the building, causing damage near windows.

Supervisors Jason Sanders and Dave Vermedahl inspect the county's building Tuesday.

Pieces of brick can be seen on the sidewalk as leaders inspect a county building in need of repair.

Before Benton County leaders had the opportunity to celebrate the completion of the building just north of the courthouse (the new LEC), the supervisors have been presented with the challenge of the significant repairs needed to the county's building on the south side of Fourth Street.

On Jan. 15, 1990, the county bought the former medical clinic across the street from the courthouse, at 114 and 116 West Fourth Street. For the past several years, the county has allowed the Iowa Department of Human Services to use that space (state law requires counties to provide space for DHS offices at no cost to the state).

During Tuesday's meeting, the supervisors, along with county maintenance staff, walked around the building and toured the inside, observing problems with windows, bricks and other parts of the building.

An estimate for one corner area alone came to approximately $16,000. Water is leaking into the building through the bricks and windows, causing damage to the interior paint.

"We could easily spend $250,000 here," said Supervisor Ron Buch.

The supervisors did not take any action on the building Tuesday, but plan to get estimates on what it would cost to repair the brick exterior as well as the interior problems. The amount of those estimates will determine whether leaders chose to repair the building, or try to sell it and find other space for the DHS offices.