April 17, 2008
Water Damage Woes for LC Courthouse

Photo by Dave Maxwell Lincoln County Courthouse

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

Over the weekend of April 12-13, the south side of the Lincoln County Courthouse suffered significant water damage to offices and storage vaults due to a break in a half-inch water line on the third floor.

Maintenance Director Richard Simpson said he came in a bit early Sunday morning and heard water flowing. He discovered approximately 1-2 inches of water in the third floor office of Judge Mike Cowley. Upon further investigation, he discovered a broken water pipe in the Justice Court restroom. After turning the water off, he found that water had also seeped into the Grant Administrator’s Office, Meadow Valley Justice Court, and was just beginning to flow into the County Manager’s Office.

On the second floor, the Assessor’s Office and Department of Motor Vehicles sustained the worst damage. Water was trickling from the ceiling; computers and monitors were so wet “water could just be poured out of them.” The vault in the office was wet and “The floor had standing water over your shoes.” The floors, including the main entrance way and hallways, were badly water stained. The Treasurer’s Office fared much better with the only damage being the ceiling in the vault was damp.

The water had coursed along the floor and run down the walls and through ceiling fixtures from one floor to the next resulting in major damage to the rugs, furniture and computers in the offices below.

The County Clerk’s Office did not suffer any damage, but the Recorder’s Office had some damage to the walls in one corner.

No offices or rooms on the north side of the courthouse building were affected, such as the District Attorney’s Office, Courtroom, Judge’s Chambers, and the Building Department.

On the basement floor, the archive vaults for the Assessor, Recorder and Clerk offices had received about two inches of standing water. There was a lot of damage to the records stored in those vaults, some of which dated back to the 1860s. The Justice Court archives vault however, did not get wet. The office of the Planning Department also suffered some damage. The full extent of all damages will not be known for several days. None of the ceilings throughout the Courthouse collapsed from the water damage, although some places had noticeable water bubbles in the paint and plaster.

All of the County’s election equipment was in the basement vaults and might be damaged. Several of the card activators were so wet water poured out of them when they were picked up. Many of the VVPATs, or printers, were soaked as well. Several of the Edge voting machines had water on them, but had not reached the hard drives. Some archive documents did not sustain any damage, but others suffered serious damage and it is not known if the information will be retrievable.

Maintenance Director Simpson estimated water had been running about 8-10 hours before he arrived on the scene Sunday morning. He said there was about 3 inches of water in the Grant’s Office receptionist’s area when he came upstairs, “And right below us is the Assessors office.”

County Manager John Lovelady said the insurance company was informed Monday morning and was to send an adjustor. He said a company from Las Vegas, experienced in the preservation of historic structures, of which the Lincoln County Courthouse is one, was contacted and plans to bring a portable office trailer that the Assessor and DMV could use temporarily.

Offices on the third floor have had to be combined into usable work space. Grant Administrator Phyllis Robistow quipped, “We better get real close to one another here.” She moved into the County Manager’s Office and the Justice Court moved into the Juvenile Probation Office. “We’re going to have to dry a few things out up here, but not much,” she said.

County Commissioners have scheduled a special meeting on April 17 at 3:00 pm to discuss funds to cover repairs to the building due to water damage.