Fergus County: Courthouse elevator to be out July 7 for about 40 days; staff will set up downstairs assistance

Fergus County officials announced that the courthouse elevator will be taken out of service beginning July 7 for an estimated 40 days for replacement work, and discussed how staff will help members of the public who need access to upper floors.

Speaker 1 told the meeting, "It'll be out of service for 40 days," and said staff plan to set up a phone or contact point on the main floor so people can call for assistance. Speaker 2 pressed for operational detail, asking, "How are we gonna… when it comes to the elevator and people need to do business on the 2nd and 3rd Floor, how are we going to… help those people if they can't get upstairs?"

Officials discussed several short-term solutions: placing a staffed contact station or a phone at a designated table on the main floor, assigning staff (including rotating between named staff like Scott and others) to respond to calls, and using a spare tablet downstairs for fair-entry functions during the outage. Speaker 2 emphasized customer experience problems at the fair kiosk, saying staff need signage because "we do not take cash." Staff agreed to secure any tablet with a locking wire and return it nightly.

The meeting record indicates staff will coordinate details with Scott and Rhonda before the outage; the transcript does not include a definitive assignment or time-line beyond the July 7 start date. Commissioners noted the system will likely use calendar days for the 40-day estimate.

The county also reviewed routine operational items and scheduled upcoming meetings. No formal action was recorded on the elevator itself; the discussion produced direction for staff coordination but no formal motion or vote.

Next steps: staff were asked to finalize logistics for the main-floor contact station, tablet security, and signage to communicate the fair's cashless policy prior to July 7.