T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO The Harrison County commissioners tour the new Harrison County Engineer’s Office. From left, Harrison County Engineer Del George and Commissioners Paul Coffland, Dustin Corder and Amy Norris pose in the new office space.

CADIZ — Employees of the Harrison County Engineer’s Office are starting to get settled into their new location.

Harrison County commissioners took a tour of the new facility on Wednesday morning.

The new office is an addition to the current county garage. The 2,507-square-foot addition includes office space, a conference room, a file room and a break room. The restrooms were also renovated as part of the project.

“This has been a project that’s been a long time in the making. It took maybe a little longer to get it done because of supply chain issues,” Commissioner Paul Coffland said.

The garage is located at 1 Service Garage Road, Cadiz.

Brandi Simmons, office manager at the Harrison County Engineer’s Office, said she is working to get signage for the road to the building to make it easier for people to find.

The engineer’s office was previously located in the county courthouse. Simmons said the office in the courthouse was very small.

“Four of us were cramped in that little space,” she said. “It was not convenient for parking up there. We had no conference room. … With all of these bidding projects we have going on, a lot of companies want to come in, sit down and talk to us. Now we have a nice place to do that. … This is much nicer.”

Simmons said most of the work done at the engineer’s office is related to the garage, so it makes more sense for the office and garage to share a building.

“The engineer’s office has always been separate from where it needs to be,” she said. “This addition will be beneficial in the operations of the highway department as all employees will now be in one location, making it easier for communications and overseeing the day-to-day operations.”

Simmons said the map office, which County Engineer Del George oversees, will still be located in the courthouse.

Simmons said the new office is designed with modern technology in mind. She said that the large, blank, white wall in the conference room is one example.

“Anything could be projected on it,” Simmons said.

Simmons also said that she likes the overall design of the office. She said the new standing desks make it easier for her to move around the office.

“It’s nice to be able to just stand and go,” she said.

Simmons said employees are still working to move files from the courthouse to the new office.

According to Simmons, Cadiz Township trustees have already called and asked about using the new office’s conference room occasionally for meetings. She said the trustees and other government agencies are welcome to use the building as long as they call the office first.

Officials broke ground for the project last spring. E. Mullins Construction of Bloomingdale completed the work for $652,750.

Simmons said the garage was built in the 1990s, so both buildings are newer.

According to Harrison County’s website, “the county engineer, in cooperation with the county commissioners, is responsible for the maintenance, repair, widening, resurfacing and construction of 264.44 miles of roadways and 184 bridges in the Harrison County Highway System.”

The Harrison County Engineer’s Office is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit harrisoncountyohio.org or contact the office at 740-942-8867 or engineer@harrisoncountyohio.org.