[caption id="" align="alignright" width="216" caption="The Greene County Courthouse, built in 1909, was recently renovated by state order, to the tune of $14 million. The county thought it had saved $1.5 million on the job but is now questioning $57,000 in new expenses."][/caption]Colin DeVries in The Daily Mail reports that the Greene County legislature's Building and Grounds committee halted movement of a two-year-old county courthouse renovation change order this week because they, "are unclear about why costs weren’t covered by the original contract awarded in 2008." Last spring, the Greene County Courthouse was re-opened after being closed since summer 2008 for state-mandated renovations. The county budgeted $14 million in bonds to cover costs that ended up coming under budget for to the tune of $1.5 million, according to Legislative Chairman Wayne Speenburgh (R-Coxsackie). Now confusing legislators is $51,221 in a construction change order, mostly having to do with electrical issues including, "an additional switch, additional fire alarms, gate changes and added voice and data cables."


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Legislator Karen Deyo, R-Catskill, asked specifically about the presence of four storage trailers at $150 each on the change order list. The last change orders of 2010, which included additional bluestone work and modifications to a family court window, were awarded during the holiday season without much ado. Meanwhile, exterior work continues at the courthouse for a sally port between the rear of the courthouse and the county jail, allowing for a gated passage for prisoners from the jail to the courthouse. And an open house and dedication of the newly renovated century-old structure is being planned for late spring.