The Marion County Board of Supervisors recently wrapped up budget hearings from all the county department heads. Most had requests for extra money for their departments.

One of the departments that didn’t request extra was facilities and maintenance headed up by Chris Nesteby. The department of seven takes care of the maintenance and construction needs for most county owned facilities. Most of the work is performed at Public Health, the courthouse, the law enforcement center, the 3014 building on east Main Street and the 6th Street Annex.

Nesteby describes the job, “We do everything from replacing toilets to major electrical upgrades, replacing HVAC systems and even snow removal.”

It used to be about 70 percent of work was done by private contractors. Now virtually everything is done in house, helping to save taxpayer dollars according to Nesteby. The Facilities and Maintenance shaved nearly $46,000 out of their typical budget.