The Bay County Commission took steps toward getting a new roof on the courthouse, as well as looking at more renovations.

The Bay County Commission had its bi-weekly meeting this morning to discuss several topics one of those was the courthouse.

The county courthouse is one of the oldest in the state and has had a leaky roof. The county and judges put together a steering committee to get some numbers on the cost of replacing the roof and making other renovations.

The board voted today to direct county staff to put together a design build proposal to replace the roof. Commissioner George Gainer believes they can replace the roof for under $500,000, and they voted to keep that price tag while bidding.

They will also put together a master plan for the courthouse to address any concerns they have about the courthouse needs.

George Gainer said, "Priority was to get what we have over there dry right now, so we don't go backwards any further and then come up with an entire roofing system that would protect our records and our entire courthouse. Then the next thing was where do we want to be five years from now, ten years from now. What are we going to do about parking, what are we going to do about space, and what are the advantages to building new courtrooms as opposed to remodeling the ones we have?"

Gainer says he hope to get bids in for the courthouse roof in 30 days and begin building as soon as hurricane season ends.