Kane County looking at efficient use of buildings, space
Kane County officials spent part of Thursday discussing the most efficient ways to improve the infrastructure of county buildings. The coming changes could result in some tight squeezes as well as cash savings.
The county's architects met with staff and judicial officials Thursday to discuss some of the mostly free options of addressing the county's big squeeze problem with three new judges beginning work in Kane County at the end of the year. Some of the mostly free solutions involve more reliance on night court and keeping existing courtrooms in use for longer portions of the day as judges split time in rooms. The county's architects and judicial staff are expected to make a presentation soon on how to squeeze the new judges in on a temporary basis until long-term construction can give all the judges their own courtrooms.
Kane County is also thinking long-term with environmentally-friendly changes coming to county buildings. Work will begin Monday on installing energy-efficient light bulbs, arranging for nonrefrigerated vending machines to be turned off at night and the installation of a cool roof at the Third Street Courthouse. The courthouse currently has a black, tar roof with no insulation. That roof will be removed in favor of an insulated roof with a white felt-like cover that will reflect the sun, rather than absorb its heat like the current roof does. The county expects the new roof will lower the costs to cool the courthouse in the summer. All told, the county is looking at a saving $150,000 a year with the "green" improvements to county buildings.
The county will also improve the revenue side of the ledger as the geographic information system department prepares to increase the fee it charges for services to $17, an increase from the current $10 fee. GIS provides detailed land information to cartographers, land surveyors and development planners for their projects. The increase comes following a drop in the revenue the GIS department experienced as demand for services fell while costs of doing business increased.