Colfax accepts proposal for municipal building ADA door
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Who knew that it would be so difficult to find a company to install a new door?
Carrie Johnson, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, reported to the Colfax Village Board at the July 8 meeting that in spite of making numerous phone calls, she had received only one proposal for installing a new Americans With Disabilities Act compliant door for the south side entrance of the Colfax Municipal Building.
The Colfax Public Library received an American Library Association grant of $10,000 to install a new ADA compliant door at the municipal building, and Market & Johnson was the only company that replied with a proposal, Johnson said.
The Market & Johnson proposal is for $14,880 to remove the existing door and frame and to install and paint a new door and frame.
The proposal does not include any electrical work in the pricing.
The new door would have a window, door hardware that includes a deadbolt, push/pull, threshold and sweep, along with two wireless actuators to operate the door.
The wireless actuators operate with batteries, Johnson said.
The battery-operated actuators for ADA compliant doors have been in use for a while and apparently are not adversely affected by extreme changes in temperature. The batteries typically have to be replaced every six months, she said.
Johnson said she had called many companies. All of them had declined to send a proposal, and a number of them had recommended contacting Market & Johnson.
The problem, she said, is that the companies she contacted, other than Market & Johnson, do not want to perform work on a building that is on the Wisconsin and National Register of Historic Places.
Gary Stene, village trustee, asked if it would make sense to wait and see if Colfax is awarded a Flexible Facilities Program grant for the municipal building rather than approving the Market & Johnson proposal.
The village board has contracted with Ayres Associates to write a grant application that was due July 11 for up to $4.25 million for installing an elevator in the building, putting restrooms on all three levels and renovating the basement, along with other improvements to the building.
There is not enough time for the ADA grant, which would have to be used before any project funded by the Flexible Facilities grant would have to be completed, Johnson said.
If the ADA grant is not used this year, the $10,000 would be lost, she said.
The Colfax Village Board accepted the Market & Johnson proposal on a vote of five “yes” to one “no.”
Voting in favor were Village President Jeff Prince and Village Trustees Clint Best, Margaret Burcham, Anne Jenson and Gary Stene.
Village Trustee Carey Davis voted against the motion. Village Trustee Jen Rud was absent from the meeting.
Other doors
Market & Johnson had also submitted a proposal for replacing the side entrance door on the north side of the village clerk’s office on the same sheet as the ADA compliant door for the south side of the building at a cost of $5,920 for the door.
The door for the police department entrance would be the same price as the north side entrance door, Johnson said.
Village board members briefly discussed waiting to see about the Flexible Facilities grant before replacing the doors.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved tabling the proposal.
The proposal from Market & Johnson contained information about the north side door along with information about the ADA compliant door.
From the motion village board members approved, it was not clear whether they were tabling only the north side entrance door or tabling both the north side door and the police department door.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved bartender operator’s licenses from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, for Andrew Anderson (Blind Tiger); Katherine Walters (American Legion); Debra Holsnueter and Samuel Lindgren (Viking Bowl and Catering); Sierra Stewart (Kyle’s Market); and Brittany Sonnenberg (Little Slice of Italy).
• Approved a pay request for the first installment of $289,717.70 to Skid Steer Guy LLC for the Balsam Street and Oak Street projects.
• Learned that Morgen Enterprises has received a building permit to rebuild Morgen’s Auto Body located at 409 Cedar Street. Morgen’s Auto Body was destroyed by a fire on July 10, 2023.
