The Washington County Board had a long meeting last night, as again there was much discussion and decisions to be made in regard to the renovation of the Washington County Courthouse.  Building committee chairman Gary Suedmeyer reported that there have been 26 work change orders and 17 of them were because of unforeseen issues, discovered after demolition began.  Change orders approved last night include $19,456 for the new stairs on the north end of the building, as additional steel is needed to make it structurally sound.  Masonry work is needed on some door frame areas at a cost of $2,251.  There was a change that will result in a credit of $2,970, as the top of the roof will be done with materials that are cheaper than anticipated.  The sprinkler system with a water pump for the attic will cost $48,067.  As reported last month, the water pressure is very low that high in the building, so a pump is needed to provide enough pressure to get water to the attic area to put out a fire.  It will not save on insurance, but rates would go up if there was a fire that couldn’t be put out.  Also, the Board approved of power on a couple of outside poles that can be used by other groups with permission.  In the past there has been a circuit box in a tree with wires running from it.  This will cost $3,332.  The Board originally set $300,000 aside as a contingency fund for many of these changes, but that money is nearly gone, so they approved of another $50,000 to be added to the fund.  This will keep the renovation going, even if there is a larger costing change order, as opposed to a work stoppage while waiting for the Board to meet and approve of the money.  The Dieker family donated money for the water fountain that is in front of the courthouse, and the Board had discussed getting it back in working order, but it is going to be a daunting undertaking, so they agreed to use the remaining $7,600 in that fund for some other project that is feasible.  They learned a server in the Washington County Jail is getting old, but it should last until the next budget to be replaced, because that fund is already spent.  There is the same issue with a computer that controls things in the jail.  The yearly audit was presented by Gary Malawy of Krehbiel & Associates.  The audit was clean and in compliance with no issues.  He reported that there is money in the county to pay for the renovation of the courthouse, especially as there are a few payments still to come from Prairie State Energy.  This money paid for the Judicial Building and the Courthouse renovation with no tax increase to the public.  There currently is no contract with Alliance Coal, so that will be approximately $400,000 less for next year though.  The pension fund is also doing well, as the employee contributes 4.5 percent of their paycheck to it and the county was contributing 13 percent, but that is down to approximately 11 percent, so that puts it in a good position.  Malawy did report that payroll went up $97,000 though.  It was also reported that the Worker’s Compensation audit has been completed and the County was refunded nearly $10,700.