The Athens County Commissioners could cough up as much as $20,000 over the next five years to replace an outdated X-ray machine in the county courthouse.
County officials say the machine, which separates the general public in the lobby from the rest of the courthouse, has broken down twice in the last 90 days. The week before Christmas, a computer in the X-ray machine stopped functioning, said Common Pleas Court Judge George P. McCarthy.
“We had a guy come in from New Jersey who determined the computer was bad,” McCarthy said. “It was replaced Thursday (of the next week).”
It was not immediately clear by press time how much money the replacement computer may have cost the county.
McCarthy and Athens County Chief Constable Bill Butterworth told the commissioners that it may be more cost efficient to replace the entire machine because the repairs seem to become more expensive as it gets older.
McCarthy and Butterworth asked for a lease agreement with Rapiscan, the company that currently services the X-ray machine. The county would have to pay $4,000 per year for up to five years, depending on what solution the company prefers.
Although Butterworth and McCarthy said they believed Rapiscan X-ray systems are widely used throughout the country, Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel said he thought a different system might work better.
“Let’s check with other courthouses in the area to see what systems they use,” Chmiel said. “If this sucker breaks down all the time, maybe we should look for something else.”
Commissioner Lenny Eliason also wanted more information before approving a new agreement because “it’s always better to have something less costly.”
The county didn’t plan for a new machine in the 2014 budget, so unless the Common Pleas Court can pay for it, the money will come out of a county contingency fund.
The commissioners decided to wait until other options are explored to approve an agreement for a new machine.
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