Major leaking problems around windows plaguing York County Courthouse

YORK – There is and has been majoring leaking around the windows on the west and east sides of the York County Courthouse – York County Commissioner Andy Bowman says the leaking has become more than a nuisance, saying it’s now become a “health issue.”

​Bowman sits on the building and grounds committee and after he was informed about the leaking issues, he went to inspect the situation himself.
“This situation is now turning into a health issue as it is creating mold,” Bowman said. “We will need to completely rip the windows out and they will all need to be replaced, on the west and east sides. This project is going to cost more than $50,000 so I’d like to start the bid process now. I would like to see us start moving on this as soon as possible. And with the age of this building, we are probably looking at a 2-year project. I do not want to see this take a back seat to other projects.”
“Years ago, when we had a (different) leaking problem, we had a company out of Lincoln come out and he did scans of the walls,” recalled York County Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier. “If we can go back, through our claims and agendas, and maybe talk to Cal (Friesen, former maintenance director at the courthouse), we can figure out who the company was and we can contact them. That might be a good first step. He could go through the leaking areas with a thermal scanner and do that first” to assess the damage that might not be visible. “We could get him on site and then he can make recommendations as to what needs to happen next.”
“Upstairs, in some areas, they put up some plastic where there was leaking, but that created a problem in itself as on hot days it became an incubator,” Bowman said. “And there are places where you can see expansion and separation. There are also some insulation problems.”
The commissioners agreed to go back through past information to determine what company did that type of work and they will give that consultant a call, as a first step to solving this problem.