ASHLAND — Ashland City Council will spend up to $40,000 fixing a door at the municipal building’s bottom entrance.
Council unanimously approved the project Tuesday, with Councilman Jason Chio abstaining. Chio is employed by Simonson Construction, the company hired to replace the door.
The money won’t just buy a new door, though. Mayor Matt Miller said the money will replace the entrance entirely.
The door’s locking mechanism broke about a month ago and is being held together with duct tape.
“That is not going unnoticed by me and the staff everyday. But they tried to fix the door handle and could not,” Miller said.
The original doors currently are a bit awkward, Miller said. They are heavy and the button used to open one of them for handicap accessibility works only some of the time.
So, instead of fixing the door, the entire entry is scheduled to be replaced with an automatic sliding door, both on the outer and inner entrances.
The tiles in the foyer will also be replaced and everything in the hallway so everything matches, Miller said.
The project is expected to start as soon as materials arrive, which is could take four to six weeks.
Miller mentioned the building will also get a new elevator at some point this year. The elevator’s replacement is expected to be paid for using federal Community Development Block Grant funds.
The city has yet to submit the paperwork for its CDBG funds, Miller said.
