Clocks are an item “nobody finds value in, until they don’t work,” Johnson said.
The cost of a clock project, depending on options chosen, could exceed $60,000, Johnson said.
He explained that an antiquated Simplex controller is controlling the clocks in the Safety Building, which is home to an array of government offices and courts.
“We (maintenance department) have always been able to change the clocks as they failed, but now it looks like the controller is having some synchronization issues,” Johnson said.
He said the system was part of the building’s construction on the mid-1970s, and he doesn’t know if the controller could be replaced.
That possibility would be part of the evaluation of options.
Johnson said clock companies would be asked about options, which he anticipates would include Atomic clocks and network-based clock systems. Systems come in either analog or LED format, he said, adding some systems include a message board to provide warnings or other information.
Having the correct time on clocks is important in the public setting, whether a school or government building, Johnson said.
“You have citizens in here who look at (the clocks) for court times,” said Leigh Williams, the commissioners’ clerk/administrator.
Before any project would begin, Johnson said maintenance staff will do a building walk-through with a floor plan, going office by office to get an accurate count of the number of clocks on the system. He said that number likely would be 80 or more.
The clock tower of the 1880s Courthouse located across a small plaza from the Safety Building is a separate system, operated by a clock company for the county under contract. When the four clocks in the tower get out of synchronization, which occurred thanks to a late October power outage followed by the time change in early November, the company is called. Those clocks were back in agreement last week.
The Courthouse offices have individual clocks that are overseen by the office staff.
Johnson said if a new system were needed, a review of options likely would include looking at adding the Courthouse clocks to the new set up.
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