The Franklin County Courthouse, at 140 Main St. in Farmington, will be getting new windows amid a renovation project on the 1885 building. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal file photo

FARMINGTON — Lead tests on some windows and sills at the Franklin County Courthouse came back positive after testing by Community Concepts, county Administrator Amy Bernard told commissioners Tuesday.

Some county departments will temporarily relocate or close as old windows are removed and new ones installed.

The courthouse was built in 1885 and an addition was added in 1917.

The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration division was contacted. It was determined the best practice is to isolate or quarantine the areas during construction where lead is present, Bernard said.

This will require sealing off rooms with plastic while the windows are replaced, and staff will not be able to work in these spaces.

Renovations are currently underway in the county commissioners’ office. The ground-floor windows do not need replacing as they were updated about 30 months ago. The Emergency Management Agency office has been vacated for renovations, with the director working remotely, Bernard added.

The county is renovating several offices to bring the District Attorney’s Office back to the courthouse. Several departments, including the county commissioners’ office, EMA and IT, are moving to the new Emergency Operations Center that is expected to be nearly complete by April 1 and ready for move in.

In November, the county ordered new windows for the first and second floors from Maine Windows and Doors in Portland, which submitted the lowest bid at $181,332. The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act. Commissioners approved the funding request on Nov. 12.

“Every window will be replaced” on the first and second floors, Facilities Manager Nick Palmer said in November. The company will pull out the windows and the rotten sills and put the new windows in, including the transom windows. The windows, which will be Andersen windows, will be finished on the exterior with white PVC board.

County staff will make a schedule of which offices will be done next and where the employees will temporarily set up offices, if there is need to close them.

Palmer said that the offices will be checked again after windows are replaced to make sure no lead exists.

Palmer is looking to do the Registry of Deeds and Registry of Probate and Judge of Probate next. He plans to use next Wednesday to replace windows in the research room. The contractor is doing two windows a day, which are more than 11 feet tall, Palmer said. The contractor may be able to do more than two if they are smaller windows, he said.