Carbon County must spend nearly $100,000 on unexpected repairs after the sole elevator in its three-story administration building broke down.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners ratified a proposal with Schindler Elevator Corporation of Allentown for repairs to the elevator at a cost of $95,696.

Under the terms of the contract, equipment must be delivered 35 days from the proposal acceptance, which was Oct. 21. Once it is delivered, 50 percent will be paid, with the remaining balance being paid upon completion.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that the project was initially going to take about three to four months because the vendor didn’t have what the county needed for the repairs.

He noted, because of this the county went looking at other vendors, and the project should now take between two and three months.

Ahner paralleled this to how the county is going to have to act regarding finances moving forward because delays in projects cost money and there are a lot of requests for the upcoming 2023 budget.

Once the parts are received, Ahner said the actual repairs will take no longer than a week.

The Carbon County administration building has been without an elevator since last month.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that it was a hydraulic fluid leak that caused it to malfunction.

Because of this, Carbon County shifted the October tax assessment appeals hearing to the 525 Iron St., Lehighton building due to accessibility issues.