Bond issue passes

It passed by the slimmest of margins, but Gage County voters on Tuesday approved a bond issue totaling $2.8 million to go toward renovations of the Gage County Courthouse.

According to unofficial returns from the Gage County Clerk’s Office, 1,951, or 50.93 percent, voted for the bond issue, while 1,880, or 49.07 percent, voted against the measure.

“I’m almost more excited now than I was when I was elected last,” said Ron Fleecs, Gage County Board of Supervisors District 5 supervisor and chairman of the county’s buildings and grounds committee, after learning of the results of the vote Tuesday night.

“Now we can get started on the roof and go from there.”

Plans for the bond issue called for re-roofing the entire courthouse at an estimated cost of $546,000, replacing the building’s heating and cooling system at a cost of $764,000, replacing all the windows for $529,000 and replacing the electrical system and lighting for $348,000.

Other items included installing a fire suppression system for $98,000 and a fire alarm system for $41,000 and waterproofing the building’s foundation for $98,300.

County officials said the proposed renovations were maintenance items that needed to be done now instead of delayed until later when they would be more expensive.

According to county figures, the bond issue based on current interest rates and property valuation will increase county property taxes by $20 a year for the owner of a home valued at $50,000 and by $40 a year for the owner of a home valued at $100,000.

The county is planning to pay for the project over a five-year period.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s elections, county officials conducted a campaign to inform the public about what they saw as the need for the bond issue and the planned renovations.

Fleecs, however, said Tuesday night he had been concerned by low turnout at a series of public meetings and two courthouse open houses outlining courthouse repair needs, as well as what he called the lack of talk he heard from people in the community concerning the bond issue.

“I never heard anything,” he said. “But this makes me feel good.”

However, he said he thought Tuesday’s vote showed the message got through.

“I’m really proud of the voters who could see the need for this,” he said.