Pipes burst in courthouse, commission working on plan

VICTOR CAMACHO, custodian at the Kittson County Courthouse, shows a section of pipe he kept from a portion that burst at the end of January.
(Enterprise photo by Anna Jauhola)

By Anna Jauhola
With a sense of urgency, the Kittson County Commission and administration have started working again on a strategy to replace the courthouse’s crumbling HVAC system.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28 and again on Thursday, Jan. 30, hot water pipes broke in the old boiler room in the southeast corner of the building, said Aimee Sugden, county administrator. During a discussion at the regular county board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 4, Sugden said it was lucky the waterline breaks happened during weekday operating hours.
“Both these leaks were one on each side of our large electrical panels too. So it’s not a good situation,” said Board Chair Loren Younggren.
The pipes in question run along the ceiling of the boiler room. The exterior of these pipes are clearly in poor condition with flaking insulation and the visible joints are extremely rusted. After the meeting adjourned, those curious visited with Custodian Victor Camacho to see a section of the pipe in question to see just how bad it was. The rusted pipe was fragile and had lost most of its insulation, showing how the pipes – which are original to the 60-year-old building – are disintegrating.
During the meeting, Commissioner Ryan Swenson said the water was running so fast from the pipes that it quickly filled 5 gallon buckets. The regular plumbing service for the courthouse was in the area and helped patch the issue. Johnson Controls personnel were on site as well to assist in the situation.
“Luckily, these breaks were both in the boiler room so they were easily accessible,” Sugden said. “No one got hurt despite lots of hot water coming out, and we did get them fixed fairly quickly. … Our fear is, sometimes you spring a leak and you plug that hole, then it moves further down. The fear is the next break that springs is going to be in a wall.”
For the time being, employees in each department have moved files and electronics away from exterior walls to help prevent damage should a pipe burst in any office.
Before the Tuesday meeting, Younggren said he and Swenson had a facilities improvement meeting with local professionals who gave their insight on how to fix the piping issues. Younggren, Sugden and CFO Shirley Swenson also met with the county’s bonding representative to look at further bonding options.
The commission again started this week having workshops – meetings of the full board, but with no decision-making – to plan how to move forward with renovating the courthouse’s HVAC system. The workshops are open to the public.

THIS SECTION OF PIPING in the courthouse basement in the southeast corner are a startling representation of the building’s crumbling HVAC system.
(Enterprise photo by Anna Jauhola)