Change orders totaling nearly $75,000 were approved this week by the County Commission for the Davis County Justice Complex, under construction in west Farmington.
The commission also committed the remainder of its construction money to the project, bringing the total to $18.5 million.The Davis commissioners approved adding to the site a helicopter landing pad, which Sheriff Harry Jones said should cost no more than $48,000.
The sheriff's department doesn't have a helicopter, Jones said, but deals with numerous state and federal agencies, in addition to hospitals, that do have them.
The complex has reached the point in its construction that the decision has to be made whether to build the heliport or not, the sheriff said, so electrical lines, drains, and other utilities needed at the pad can be installed.
The commissioners, after some discussion, unanimously approved the heliport, agreeing it could be paid for out of the project's $900,000 contingency fund.
The commission also approved a $7,000 change order requested by county attorney Mel Wilson to add skylights to the roof over the portion of the new building where the secretaries will sit.
It is the only office in the complex with no outside windows, according to the request.
And the commission approved a number of miscellaneous change orders totaling $14,000 submitted by project manager Joe Rhodes.
The commissioners also approved putting the rest of the money raised by the county in its bond issue and interest earnings into the justice complex construction budget.
The commission initially put $16 million into this year's construction budget, out of the estimated $20.5 million the county has set aside for the project. Of that, $18.5 million came from selling bonds and about $2 million from interest earned by investing the money before it was spent.
But the county is now committed to $18.5 million worth of construction, financial adviser LaMar Holt told the commission, recommending the rest of the construction money be put into the budget.
Although the money is committed, Holt told the commission, it won't all be spent immediately but should be in the budget and available.