County considers new courthouse doors that may be purchased with ARPA funds
At their Monday meeting, the Ozark County Commissioners and County Clerk discussed options for new courthouse doors that may be purchased with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Presiding Commissioner John Turner said he hopes the doors will help solve two problems: improve access to the building by those with disabilities and help fewer people touch the door handles with their hands. ARPA funds can be used for infrastructure that helps combat the spread of the covid-19 virus. This photo shows the Ozark County Courthouse’s west entrance, accessed by a set of steps or a concrete ramp that leads to the courthouse’s current doors, which must be opened by pulling the handles from the outside or pushing the doors from the inside of the building. County officials have said that the courthouse doors and steep grade of the ramp make it difficult for those with disabilities to access the courthouse. The door does have a button to push for handicap accessibility, photo below, but that feature is currently not working.
The courthouse’s main, east-side doors stand at the top of an eight-step concrete staircase that is impossible for those in a wheelchair to use. The doors are accessed by pulling open the door handle, sometimes by dozens, or even hundreds, of people in a day when they’re attending court or voting during elections.
The courthouse basement door is accessed by a flat concrete walkway, but the door has to be pulled open manually.
Presiding Commissioner John Turner said he worries the current seating located inside the courthouse’s west-side entrance would need to be removed if automatic doors were installed.
The Ozark County Commissioners have been hesitant to jump in and start spending funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) due to the lack of guidance from the federal government concerning how the funds can be spent, but Presiding Commissioner John Turner says the county is exploring the possibility of using ARPA funds to purchase new doors for the courthouse. The purchase could achieve two goals, Turner said: help prevent the spread of covid and make the courthouse more accessible to those with disabilities.
The courthouse’s current limited accessibility
The courthouse currently has three entrances: two on the east side and one on the west side of the building. One of the east-side doors offers entry into the main floor; a basement entrance on the southeast corner of the building allows access to the basement and the courthouse’s elevator.
Those entering from the main east-side entrance, across from Sweet Little Things Bakery, have to climb eight steps and pull open the doors manually with a door handle.
A flat, concrete walkway leads to the basement entrance on the southwest corner of the courthouse lawn, across from the Times office, allowing wheelchair access to the door. But the door itself is not equipped with any sort of handicap-accessible opening device and instead must be opened by someone pulling the handle of the outward-swinging door or by someone inside pushing the door open from inside and holding it for a handicapped person.
Those entering the west-side entrance, across from the Historium, have the option of climbing eight steps or using a long, relatively steep ramp to gain access to the door. Like the east-side doors, the west-side doors have handles that visitors pull outward to open. A button on the west-side door frame says “push to open” and has a handicap symbol; however, the button was not working when a Times reporter tried it Monday and Tuesday. When the button does work, one of the double doors swings open, allowing wheelchair-bound visitors to enter the building.
Officials say the doors work periodically, and because of the age of the door-opener button, parts are becoming obsolete. The commissioners would like to find a way to make the building more accessible with new doors.
A disagreement about types of doors
“I have asked a company from Springfield to come down and bid on new doors for the courthouse…. It’d be both sides [main doors] and the basement, adding an [push button] opener to make the doors handicap accessible,” Turner said during Monday’s commissioners meeting. “You’re supposed to have an opener that’s back away from the door. So, we’ll affix it to a post or someplace outside the door... It’ll be more sanitary for people who can just hit the button with their elbow instead of having to touch the doors.”
Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise suggested that, as an alternative to having doors that open with a push button, the courthouse instead be outfitted with automatic sliding doors that open based on a sensor that detects when a person is standing near the doorway.
“If you have to hit a button, that doesn’t stop [the spread] of covid. And if you don’t have automatic doors, you can’t use ARPA funds,” Wise said, referring to the requirement that ARPA funds must be used in a way that helps combat the spread of covid, which is the purpose of the money.
Turner disagreed. “Well, you could hit the button with your elbow or your knee or use you leg to kick it to push it open,” he said.
“Are you going to put a sign up that says use your elbow?” Wise asked, also bringing up the fact that many people are told to sneeze into their elbow area instead of their hands to stop the spread of covid. So touching something with their elbow might spread germs.
“Well, I don’t want a door that someone stands in front of that will be flipping open all the time when people stand by it or sit by it or go outside to use their phone or smoke a cigarette,” Turner said. “And no touch is the best, but I think low touch would help with spreading covid. We’ve always had seating on either side of the [west-side] door, and I hate to have to get rid of that.”
Western District Commissioner Layne Nance said he had to side with Wise on the issue.
“If you have to physically touch something, that isn’t going to work [to stop the spread of covid],” Nance said.
When Collins was asked what he thought about the issue, he said he always just uses his cane to push buttons and has often seen push-button handicapped accessible doors at hospitals and other locations.
“Plus, [if you install an automatic door], every time a dog runs by there, it’ll be flying open,” Collins said.
Wise asked Collins how often he anticipated a dog would run by the door and how many other people would have a cane with them to use to push the button.
By the end of the meeting, Wise, Nance and Collins said they’d like to bring in someone from a door company who could present the county with available options for the courthouse’s design. No decision was made, and the discussion will likely continue at future meetings when the county has a better idea of what is available.
ARPA funds
Ozark County has received the first disbursement of ARPA funds totaling $890,971. Another disbursement of $890,972 will be issued next year, bringing Ozark County’s total ARPA funds to $1,783,943. The funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and must be spent before Dec. 31, 2026, or be returned to the federal government.
ARPA was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11. The $1.9 trillion package is aimed at combating the covid-19 pandemic, including the public heath and economic impacts the country has felt. As part of the ARPA funding, every county in the United States will receive “direct, flexible aid” that cumulatively amounts to $65.1 billion. It is the second round of covid-19 relief funding the county has received. In 2020, the county received $1,076,293 as part of the first covid-19 relief funding bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
County officials say that ARPA funds are much different in how they will be designated than CARES Act funding. They anticipate this funding will be aimed more at government infrastructure impacted by covid rather than direct funding for schools, municipalities and businesses that suffered due to the pandemic.