Updates on Admin building repairs
(Top) Equipment used to remove the water from parts of the building. Pictures were shown during the County Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 18. (Bottom) A picture taken of the server room in the County Administration Building after the water damage.
By Steve Van Kooten
The Crawford County Board of Supervisors received updates from maintenance and law enforcement during their board meeting in August.
Lieutenant Investigator Ryan Fradette of the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office provided a recap of the department’s activity during the County Line Festival, which takes place in Bridgeport each year.
The promoters pay for the sheriff’s deputies to work at the event. This year, the full-time deputies provided the necessary coverage without the use of other agencies.
Fradette suggested that the attendance numbers for the event were down from previous years, but the attendees have a positive effect on the local economy.
“From a law enforcement standpoint, we’re there to babysit and protect everyone,” he said. “Every year, we try to do it a little bit better… It was quite the undertaking.”
Before the event, the county does a Violent Critical Incident Plan. “As we know, active-shooter events have increased throughout the nation — they’ve increased so much you don’t hear about them as often anymore.”
The plan included a tactical survey of the grounds to identify areas of concern (e.g., highway access, coverage areas off of the property, etc.) and identifying radio communications protocols and staging areas for law enforcement and emergency services.
Fradette said the event went “really good” due to numerous factors, including cooler weather. “It helps when we have cool weather because it slows the intoxication down a little bit.”
Fradette acknowledged that underage drinking happens during the event. Law enforcement and the promoters have discussed ways to reduce incidents in the future.
“We’re going to go to the campsites and have conversations with these younger crowds, letting them know that we’ll be coming back. If there’s underage drinking, we’re going to have to address it.”
A 68-year-old man passed away during the event, reportedly due to a cardiac arrest. The Sheriff’s Office does not suspect foul play and alleges the man was not drinking during the festival.
Law enforcement didn’t note any traffic issues before or after the event.
“I know that was an issue in years past… and that was before when U.S. 18 was a single-lane highway. Now, we don’t seem to have any major traffic issues,” said Fradette.
Admin Building
John Poots, a member of the county’s maintenance team, gave a short presentation on the damage incurred by the County Administration Building in late June.
On June 19, at 2 a.m., dispatch received an alert from a water flow alarm at the building. Poots and the City of Prairie du Chien Fire Department responded, arriving approximately 15 minutes later.
A press release from the county claimed a malfunctioning piece of fire suppression equipment activated a sprinkler head on the third floor of the building.
Evaluation of the site began in the basement because, at the time, they were not sure if a fire had triggered the system.
“By the time we got up there, it had probably been running for 40-45 minutes. By the time we got to the third floor, there were a couple inches of water running down the hallway,” said Poots.
The water flowed into the building’s ductwork, which acted like a canal to the land conservation office and the computer room.
Poots shut off the water to the system at approximately 3 a.m. ServPro received a call from the county at 4 a.m., and they arrived on the scene two hours later. Due to the quick response to the incident, the building reopened to county personnel and the public on July 7.
According to Finance Committee Chair Gary Koch, Crawford County’s insurance company is covering the majority of the expenses. The total cost for the damage has not been released; however, Poots said initial cleanup cost approximately $90,000, and the remodel work cost almost $100,000.
The county plans to move their computer systems, including servers, to a secure room in the new jail addition at a later date.
Shred-It
Earlier in the month, the Finance Committee approved outsourcing the Clerk of Court Office’s paper shredding to a third-party vendor.
Crawford County Clerk of Court Holly Tanner claimed the change would enhance the county’s compliance for data security and “streamline operations.”
“Currently, our office handles document shredding a few pages at a time using a cross-cut shredder,” said Tanner.
The cost of the shredder is estimated to be $500. She estimated the average lifespan for a shredder is between one and three years, depending on how much it is used, and suggested the Clerk Office’s current needs pushed it closer to one year.
Tanner added that the shredded paper then goes into a plastic bag for disposal.
“It’s not a great, sound way to shred sensitive documentation, and I think it would be worth our while for liability purposes and security to see if we can enhance it by getting a certified company to handle the large volumes of documentation shredding that we need to do,” she said.
Currently, the Clerk of Court Office is backed up on document shredding. Tanner claimed there are entire rooms full of sensitive paperwork that needs to be destroyed. Allocating staff to shred documents using a small shredder is both time-consuming and an inefficient use of their staff’s hours.
Shred-It costs $46.87 per month ($562.44 per year), which includes a 96-gallon container that is picked up six times per year. Shred-It is certified for secure disposal, which would make the county compliant with regulatory standards.
Shred-It’s closest offices are in Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa, and Madison, according to their website.
“What that does is secure the collection of sensitive materials,” she said. “It also reduces staff burden and internal equipment maintenance and replacement.”
