Though winter weather has halted some work on the county’s new administration building, the construction manager is pleased with how the project is progressing. Meeting with the county commission Tuesday, Greg Drake, Septagon construction manager, said eight full days, not including holidays, have been lost due to the weather. He said that’s not as bad as it may seem. “It’s great for the winter,” Drake told The Record. “We’re in great shape.” An update on the construction progress was presented Tuesday by representatives of Septagon and Treanor Architects. The county’s 36,670-square-foot, two-story facility will house all non-court related county offices. The building is being constructed on 3 acres the county purchased in 2009 on South Highway 47 and Mockingbird Lane in Warrenton. The overall project estimate is $6.5 million. Construction is scheduled to be completed in February 2012. Inclement weather was expected to stop work the remainder of the week. Drake reported that minimal progress has been made in drilling wells for the geothermal system, as only 12 of the 70 wells needed have been completed. A 13th well is almost finished. At last month’s status update, four wells had been completed and the remainder were expected to be completed by the end of this month or early February. At that time, Drake said crews anticipated drilling two wells a day. However, Drake told the commission, muddy conditions and cold weather have forced the subcontractor to stop work. In the meantime, Drake expected contractors to be finished next week pouring concrete for the foundation and foundations walls. Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Mike Daniels, the county’s emergency management director, informed Septagon and Treanor officials that a grant awarded last year to construct and outfit his department in the basement of the facility will likely be approved for an extension. Due to delays in approving the final design of the administration building, the grant money was unable to be spent by the Dec. 30, 2010, deadline. Daniels has secured a $217,245 grant from State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), along with an additional $10,500 from Citizen Corps grant. He requested the grant be extended until Sept. 30, 2012. Daniels said the extension had been endorsed by SEMA and the Missouri Office of Homeland Security.