Pulaski County Council talks courthouse budget

The Pulaski County Council reviewed and discussed the courthouse renovation project and its budget during a regular meeting on Monday, May 8. Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer presented the council with two budget documents and explained that there was an updated Tonn and Blank budget just for construction costs and an updated full project budget. Councilman Tim Overmyer asked Origer why the numbers have doubled since January 2021. Origer said that there were a few reasons for that happening. First, he said the 2021 number was based off of a rough estimate that the previous architect had put together based on unrefined plans. Secondly, he said that the county construction projects started back in 2018 and 2019, when they decided to prioritize the justice center first. Since then the market has changed drastically.