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County officials set October target for new building opening but debate front-door security
Summary
Facilities staff said move-in work for the new Rockingham County building is expected into October; commissioners discussed locking the public entrance and key-fob access for staff, and staff outlined outstanding IT, phone and inspections before occupancy.
Rockingham County facilities staff told commissioners on Aug. 14 that final inspections, data and phone installations and remaining punch-list items mean the new county building’s move-in will likely occur in October, and commissioners debated whether to lock the building’s public entrance and require escorted access.
Senior facilities staff said HVAC rooftop units and air-handling work for several floors are nearing completion, furniture is arriving and the county has allocated about $1.5 million for IT infrastructure work including network switches and telephone upgrades. Staff said some critical systems — including dispatch equipment power and final electrical inspections — remain to be completed; the dispatch equipment installation was scheduled for the 25th of the month. Commissioners were told the timeline makes an Oct. move reasonable and would not prevent a planned ribbon-cutting around Oct. 1, though the governor was not available that day.
Commissioners debated security procedures for the new building’s front entrance. One commissioner argued the front door should remain locked and members of the public should be admitted at a secured vestibule and escorted to their destination after verifying purpose; the register of deeds and other offices were cited as having different public-access needs. Commissioners also discussed issuing key fobs to county staff to control access and coordinating with the sheriff’s office for on-site security presence during business hours.
Facilities staff said they will publish a mandatory site-visit RFP for moving vendors and that a site visit will be required to ensure movers understand the scope and equipment. They also said the phone migration will include roughly 407 phones and that some of the larger IT components will be staged off-site for configuration before installation.
Commissioners asked to schedule a separate round-table and a site tour with division directors, elected officials and the sheriff’s office before finalizing front-door access policy. Facilities staff offered to provide photos of cubicle layouts for county attorney staff and other offices to address concerns raised about workspace and confidentiality.
