The City of Junction City has yet to take possession of the new Municipal Court building but the Commission along with court employees and other city officials had the opportunity to tour the new facility Wednesday evening.
The tour was requested by the City Commission during their regular meeting on January 5th, as the project is just a 
couple of months away from being a full year behind schedule.
Originally the City expected to take possession of the building in April of 2015, delays during construction pushed that back later in the year. In November of last year it was stated that the final punch list had well over 200 items on it and Allen Dinkel, City Manager, explained the City would not take possession of the building until everything on that list, within reason, was complete. As of Wednesday night the punch list was down to under ten.
“Some of those items are exterior items, and so it only makes sense to wait until the weather is conducive,” said Dinkel.
After looking things over Mayor Mick McCallister feels the City is now just a couple of weeks away from taking possession of the building.
“I think we’re very close to moving into the building,” said McCallister. “I think that the Architect is working very hard with the General Contractor, and I think within a couple of weeks we ought to be in here.”
The Commissioners were able to see most of the items that are left on the punch list during their walk through.
“We’re looking at some things like the door stops on some of the trim pieces, they don’t go all the way to the floor. There’s some electrical things that need to be done. The bullet proof glass on the desk area, there were some chips in it so we need to get that straightened out and get that done properly,” said Commissioner Pat Landes.
It is still unclear on what will happen next when the City does take possession of the building. The contract did include penalties including $100 a day for liquidated damages, but it’s currently unknown how much will the City assess the damages.
The commission is expected to discuss the project again more in-depth during their February 2nd meeting. When they will take possession and the early talks of how much of the penalties will be assessed could come out at that meeting.
