Skip to content
By Tom Lawrence
Staff writer
LE MARS — A cold courtroom is no place to seek justice, so the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors are warming to the idea of fixing a problem.
The District Courtroom was redone in 2021-2022, and the room’s appearance was significantly upgraded. But during the winter of 2022-23, it was discovered the courtroom was too cold.
“We had heard there were HVAC issues,” said District Court Administrator Peggy Frericks.
The temperature in the room would not go above 68, making for some chilly hearings. On Tuesday, June 20, the supervisors discussed the issue and considered options with Jordan Metzger, an architect with the Stone Group Architects of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Metzger offered two potential solutions. One was to add heating panels on side panels in the middle of the courtroom; the other was to replace the current three radiant heating units with five or six panels.
The supervisors favored the second option.
“We would be producing twice as much heat at that location,” Metzger said.
The heating system uses hot water from the courthouse boiler. There is no electricity involved.
The costs are similar, with option one estimated at almost $26,700, Metzger said, and option two, which the supervisors asked him to move forward on, costing an estimated $25,671. But the board isn’t willing to pay the entire cost, or even the majority of it.
The project was supervised by Midwest Mechanical of Sioux Falls, with West Plains Engineering of Sioux Falls providing a mechanical engineer to oversee the installation.
Supervisor John Meis said the errors are obvious. The people in charge did not determine the correct size of piping needed, nor did they check the wall when installing the system.
Metzger was directed to look into fixing the problem and reporting back to the board. He said the repair would likely take just one or two days, with possibly another day for clean-up.
Board Chair Don Kass said it seems like the simplest solution to the problem. The goal is to have this completed before cold weather arrives this fall.
County Attorney Darin Raymond had just one request for the supervisors: Do not use forced air to heat the courtroom, since that would trade one problem — cold — for another, noise. The supervisors joked with him about it, but never considered such an option.
In other agenda items from the meeting:
• The supervisors approved a renewal of the Tucker Hill Vineyards liquor license.
• Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe provided a brief update on road projects. Rohe had no action items for the supervisors.
• Supervisor Craig Anderson was absent.
