Kesecker said every office on the third floor has been outfitted with new heating and air conditioning units that each have their own thermostat. These units will be replacing the building’s current AC units and radiators, which will be removed once the HVAC project is fully completed. 

Currently, City Hall is closed for the foreseeable future for restoration and recovery work after it faced a sewage overflow incident on Aug. 31, which flooded the building’s basement and first floor, including the Elkins City Police Department.

“Right now, what’s so hard… for those of us who do come to City Hall to do their work, the heat’s so hard to regulate,” Kesecker told The Inter-Mountain during the tour. “It’s either 100 degrees or 40 degrees. There’s no in-between. It’s really inconvenient right now, but, big picture, it’ll be well worth it.”

Currently, the heating and AC units on the third floor are not operational as, Kesecker aid, the HVAC piping has to be run from the main systems on the roof, down into the building and then “tied in.”

The new HVAC piping system that will run from the basement to the roof is centrally located in the middle of the building.

Kesecker then led the tour up to the roof of City Hall to show the four new HVAC units that were brought up by crane in October. He said the four units will be properly secured to the roof with the “feed lines” going down into City Hall through the building’s attic, into the main hallway and branch out to each office of the building.

“These are the main units that are going to be sitting up here, and the rooftop work is supposed to take place, weather permitting, in January,” Kesecker said. “Now, of course, any dates I give are always subject to… if a contractor comes in and has a couple guys get sick, it really slows them down on how quick they can get things accomplished… and weather. When they’re working up here they can’t be working in a driving snow storm or rain storm.”

Kesecker also showed The Inter-Mountain a new HVAC piping system that will run all the wiring and conduit from the basement to the roof, with plans for the system to branch out on each floor of the building.

“So that way everything’s centrally located,” Kesecker said. “If there’s a problem, they go into these closets. Each floor has a closet here, and that pipe runs the whole way down through all of them. So it’s centrally located right through the middle of the building.”

During the Nov. 21 Elkins City Council meeting, Kesecker said the second floor of the building was expected to start receiving the new heating and AC units at the beginning of December. He added that all of the units will be mounted to the wall of each office in the building, except for in three offices, including the Mayor and City Clerk’s offices, which will have to be mounted to the floor due to the locations of the rooms.

Also during the Nov. 21 meeting, Kesecker laid out the next steps in the restoration and recovery work for City Hall.

“First floor demolition is scheduled to start in January,” Kesecker said. “First floor build-out is scheduled to start the end of January, and the plans we have for City Hall, in my mind, are amazing.”

In the plans for City Hall, the Elkins City Police Department will have “more room than they ever have,” he said. Treasurer’s Department employees will receive their own break room and restroom, so they “can stay in their area and do the complete function of their job.” 

The Municipal Court will be moved to the back of the Treasurer’s Department Office and will have a waiting room, which will “really free up that hallway,” he said.

“The plan is the hallway, when you come in City Hall, when you come through the vestibule, the vestibule has two doors, one on the left, one on the right,” Kesecker said. “Those doors are going away. They’re going to be boarded up.”

Kesecker said there would instead be a door “immediately forward as you walk in,” with a new information area where someone stationed at the area will direct City Hall visitors to where everything is in the building.

“It’ll be a convenient, customer-friendly experience,” Kesecker told council.

Kesecker also added that the old post office ramp on the back of City Hall will be removed to make room for an ADA-accessible ramp into the building. There will also be a new “state-of-the-art” elevator.

“The changes that we’re making in City Hall are going to be phenomenal,” Kesecker said. “It’s going to make it a great workplace. It’s going to open it up to many options that we can discuss as we move further down the road.”