Heated arguments held over delayed construction at the Wichita County Courthouse

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - It was a heated discussion in the Wichita County Commissioners Court meeting as delays in construction and unfinished projects have some feeling frustrated.

From the delays caused by flooding in the courthouse back in March, to construction seeming to slow down in some parts of the courthouse, it all led to tension between Commissioners Jeff Watts and Mark Beauchamp.

During the meeting Commissioner Beauchamp said county employees had to be moved into work spaces before those areas were ready, which caused some confusion and has left some parts of the project unfinished and other areas had to be prioritized.

“We’ve done a lot of scope changes, a lot of moving in, moving into office spaces that were really not 100% ready to move into, but in order to accommodate things, particularly after the flood, we made some steps kind of out of order, if you will,” Commissioner Beauchamp said.

One suggestion made by Commissioner Watts was to hold off on this round of payments to the construction company, and that was met with concerns from Commissioner Beauchamp about causing even more delays.

“We did decide to go ahead and pay the bills that were up for today with the understanding that also our conversation in court will hopefully help drive our contractor and architect to understand some of the frustrations, We visit with them, make sure that they understand, so that some of those long standing projects that need to be finished can get completed,” Wichita County Judge Jim Johnson.

Commissioners are hoping to get some focus on unfinished projects in the courthouse, such as the doors in the library that currently don’t close.

Judge Johnson did want to make it clear that construction is going well, and he says they have four or five projects set to finish within the month.

Regarding the meeting’s tension, Judge Johnson said some minor frustrations and questions caused some disagreements.

Copyright 2023 KAUZ. All rights reserved.