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PINE RIVER - Portions of the Cass County health, human and veterans services building have been very cold each winter since an addition was made to the three-story building in Walker about 15 years ago.

Some rooms and hallways have been 54 degrees, despite the furnace running steadily.

Central Services Director Tim Richardson reported to the county board Tuesday a recent inspection by an architect and masonry repair contractor finally may have found the problem.

It appears the old and new buildings may not have been fully pinned together at the connecting joint or to have been insulated at that joint, Richardson said.

The fix will be to remove a 2-foot-by-2-foot section of brick from the foundation to roof at the joint, then pin the two building sections together where needed and insulate the joint before replacing the brick, he explained.

The county board approved making the repairs for the $8,945 the masonry contractor proposed.

Richardson reported the county has saved about $25,000 per year on fuel cost and boiler maintenance since converting the courthouse heating system from fuel oil to propane heating.

The commissioners voted to renew its designation of Richardson as the county's registered Power Limited technician, so he can continue to do cabling, wiring and alarm systems for the county. They also authorized Richardson to attend Honeywell training in June in Phoenix.

Whether the county should print new plat books has been under study the last year. There are no books left from the last printing about 2002. County 4-H members stopped distributing the books, because it no longer was profitable for members to do so.

Richardson reported Tuesday it appears about six to eight people a month still request paper plat books, despite a variety of county maps being available on the county website.

The commissioners voted Tuesday to spend $7,000 to have a plat book format of county maps added to the county website from which individuals could print as much of it as they want. This also will enable the county to print for sale from the courthouse as many paper versions as are requested for a price yet to be determined. Pages would not be in a binder, however.

People can begin looking for the county website version, which will be updated daily, beginning in about two months. Go to www.co.cass.mn.us for more information. Requests for printed versions can be made after that.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.[[In-content Ad]]

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