Cooke County schedules workshop after Trane warns North Annex needs major repairs

Cooke County Commissioners on Tuesday heard a presentation from Trane Technologies on a proposed assessment and potential renovation work for the county's North Annex, and agreed to hold a walking workshop next Tuesday to develop a floor plan and refine priorities. No contract was approved at the meeting.

Trane representatives gave a scope of work and an order-of-magnitude roadmap intended to surface life-safety and access issues the county would need to address before occupying the building. "The basement area is probably not currently safe for occupancy," said Bill Keenan, Trane's pre-construction team leader, and he told the court the building's HVAC "is toast," describing it as a likely tear-out-and-replace job rather than a short-term repair.

The company handed commissioners a client-agreement draft and a scope document for review. "We're going to provide you a line-item list of issues including HVAC, electrical, ADA compliance, elevators, and potential asbestos or lead-based-paint remediation, and put budget dollars to that," Keenan said. Brandy Hawkins, Trane account manager, said the…