Now that the Courthouse has reopened, there are still a few items to complete from the extensive HVAC/remodeling project. At Tuesday’s Barton County Commission meeting, County Administrator Matt Patzner requested a change order to repair doors in the building.

In the original plans for the renovation, it was expected some doors might need painting, so the budget included funds to paint about 15 doors.

“They ended up having to paint all of them, which is between 50 and 60 interior doors,” Patzner said. The commission approved paying the difference in cost, $16,816. 

Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson said he looked into this when he heard about the project.

“When you hear ‘painting doors,’ you don’t think it could be that expensive. It turns out it’s not just painting doors. They sanded the doors down, Bondo-ed, puttied, sanded again, and then two coats of paint,” he said. “They said working on these doors is more like bodywork on a car than just painting a door.”

Other commissioners agreed that painting the doors was a worthwhile detail.

“It would look a little funny if we didn’t paint them,” chairman Barb Esfeld said. “Here you have this nice building and all these beat up doors —”

“— It’s kind of like not washing the windows after getting all of this done,” Hutchinson agreed.

Commissioner Duane Reif added, “I think we decided before we even started, we wanted to do it right. Doors may seem like kind of a small project, and like commissioner Hutchinson said, it’s more than just painting. We want to do it right and make it last for a long time.”

While Tuesday’s agenda meeting was brief, the commissioners spent the rest of the day looking at budgets.

Esfeld later told the Great Bend Tribune that two departments, Health and Soil Conservation, were requesting less money than last year; others were requesting the same amount or more.