Once construction on the new administration building is complete and county offices are relocated, the Warren County Commission plans to proceed with constructing a jail dorm and a third courtroom in the courthouse as part of this year's capital projects. The county has proposed spending $2,558,063 from the capital improvement fund in 2012. Revenue this year from the tax is projected at $633,849. The 2012 budget was adopted last week. Those funds will pay the remaining expenses related to the construction of the administration building, which is on track to be completed by April. The new county facility will house all non-court related offices. The majority of the $6.5 million project was paid in 2011, freeing up some money for renovations in the courthouse facility. One of the projects on the horizon is turning the maintenance room located on the courthouse's main floor into a jail dorm that will house work release inmates. That should help eliminate some of the contraband being brought into the regular jail population and ease overcrowding, officials said. The current commission chambers and the county clerk's office will be renovated for a third courtroom, under the plan. The two companies that have designed and overseen the administration building project - Treanor Architects and Septagon Construction - will continue in their respective roles for the renovation of the courthouse, commissioners said. The jail dorm project is expected to begin once the administration project is wrapped up, followed by the courtroom remodeling. "Our plan is to go from administration building to remodeling the maintenance room and then go to the commission chambers," Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. Another costly project the commission intends to complete this year is installing a web-based energy management heating and cooling system for the courthouse and annex building. The new system will monitor every heating and cooling component and sound an alarm when a problem arises, commissioners said. They expect the new system, estimated to cost around $250,000, to eventually lead to a cost savings in the future, they said. In the past, courthouse employees have complained about the differing temperatures throughout the county facility. "The system we have now is obsolete," Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson said. "Nobody wants to work on it and it's not replaceable. We're living on borrowed time now." Also to be funded out of the capital improvement fund are the sewer pretreatment project that has yet to begin and an update to the security system in the jail facility and in the public areas of the courthouse. The pretreatment improvements are being required by the city of Warrenton after garbage, clothing and other items were being flushed down toilets by inmates inside the jail facility and entering its sewer system. Road Improvements The county commission has identified six roads for paving in 2012, but easements on each of those roads are needed, which could delay upgrades. The roads the county commission is considering paving this year include Township Line Road, Stracks Church Road between Interstate 70 and Highway M, North Stringtown, County Farm Road, Westwood Road and Joerling Road. County officials anticipate receiving $898,100 from the half-cent capital improvement sales tax in 2012. When county voters extended the sales tax in February 2008, they approved 70 percent of the sales tax revenue being allocated for road maintenance with the remaining 30 percent going for capital projects. The sales tax extension went into effect July 1, 2010. Last year, the county used the funding generated from the sales tax to pave Pendleton Cut-Off, North Rock Church, Royal Drive, Shetland and Shepard Glen. In 2010, the county paved Schreckengast, Town Branch and Bluff roads The county is seeking cooperation from property owners to obtain an additional 10-foot easement on each side of roads scheduled for paving. County policy requires a 60-foot-wide easement for roads. Though the commission has identified roads it intends to pave this year, the county continues to run into property owners reluctant to give the county the necessary easements. That could force the commission to proceed with other less traveled roads where all of the easements can be obtained. "We're going over the road count and trying to get to the highly traveled roads," Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner said. "If we can't get the easements, then we have to look at alternatives." As part of the 2012 budget adopted last week, the commission projects spending of $4,078,067 in the road and bridge fund, while revenues are estimated at $3,111,825. For the second year in a row, the county has funds appropriated to replace a bridge on Powerline Road. The new bridge is estimated to cost around $450,000, which includes construction and engineering. Commissioners said Monday that engineering for the new bridge was not completed in 2011 postponing the project, but that it should be wrapped up soon. They anticipate to begin advertising for bids soon. The county also has money set aside to begin engineering for another new bridge, which has yet to be identified, commissioners said. Also, the county plans to overlay approximately 4 3/4 miles of roads this year, in addition to the regular maintenance performed by county crews. Crews are currently finishing a new bridge on Lix Road. The county also has committed $50,000 toward plans to have a new Missouri River bridge built at Washington and has funds allocated to purchase a 1-ton pickup truck and a grader with a front attachment.