County eyes courthouse property

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

Loudon County Commission will look into building on the Loudon County Courthouse property for additional courtroom space.

Commissioners during a special, called meeting Jan. 21 voted in favor of funding Michael Brady Inc., $35,000 from the general fund to develop a possible design and cost estimate. Money will be repaid when the county borrows money for the new facility.

The vote passed 6-2, with Commissioners Van Shaver and David Meers motioning and seconding, respectively. Shaver and Commissioner Harold Duff opposed. Commissioners Adam Waller and Julia Hurley were absent.

“I think that the decision that was made tonight to go with MBI to get a look at how it would work utilizing the historic courthouse and adding in some new is the right way to go. I think it’ll be the most cost effective,” Matthew Tinker, county commissioner, said. “I like that it keeps everything in downtown Loudon.

“If it comes back and it is not cost effective then we’ll have to look at something else, but I think right now we’re on a good course of action,” he added. “The mayor will get together with some of the other office holders and stakeholders and judges to make sure MBI has everything that they would need in order to put together a thorough packet for us to look at and then we’ll see how much that costs and see if that fits within our budget. Hopefully, it’s a lot less than what the original budget was and then we’ll go from there.”

Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw now plans to meet with county purchasing director Susan Huskey and MBI representative Jay Henderlight to come up with a course of action.

“I guess ultimately with the end of this study we’ll have a better direction and we’ll see if it’s feasible,” Bradshaw said. “... One of these challenges is going to be the courthouse refurbishment itself is paid for through insurance and going through that and then looking at an addition there as well, I think it proposes some logistical issues. I don’t want to see two projects. I think my preference rather would be that we finish out our courthouse as we start phase two here in just a few months on it and then look at the annex after we get it done and complete.”

The courthouse is going through phase one of a two-step restoration following an April 23, 2019, fire. According to a timeline from Huskey, stabilization of the old courthouse is scheduled to be complete April 30.

For now, Bradshaw wants to keep options open and see what MBI brings back.

“I think we have to address one thing — bringing prisoners into the courthouse. Whether it’s new, whether old, whether it’s an addition to the old, it has to be addressed,” he said. “I think you’re looking at least a couple of entrances. One for the general public and one for maybe employees and inmates or one just for inmates. ... I think a sally port is one of those things that I think that’s one of on our must list just for the simple fact the world we live in today it’s dangerous, especially transporting, we don’t want to entertain, we want to do everything possible to prevent some kind of tragedy happening like the one that happened in Kingston.”

A “realistic” timetable could be six to eight weeks for MBI to have initial plans to the county, Bradshaw said.

“If this is the route we choose to go, I don’t think we have to get into any great rush,” he said. “Like I said, the closer we get to the historic courthouse redone is I think would be the start date for the new project would happen. If I’d have my druthers, I would say that we probably — I would like them to be two separate projects, not be going on projects at the same time.”

Commissioner Gary Whitfield pointed to the possibility of having Johnson & Galyon Construction handle both projects. The contractor is working on courthouse stabilization.

“I think it is a work in progress, and I think with Johnson & Galyon there if we’re able to bring that contractor in to do both projects at the same time I think it would be workable,” Whitfield said. “If we have to hire another contractor I think we have an issue, but I still think that we can go into our old courthouse and maybe look at some things that we can complete at the start of this project and then finish the addition on the back. But I would need to refer back to our historical and our insurance company to see what the law allows for us to do.”

He believes it could be cheaper on the courthouse site.

Commissioners in June authorized issuance of debt for up to a $7 million bond.

“My opinion with the old courthouse — I think we have an opportunity to fix our old courthouse to its original state and meet the needs of the county with an addition onto that courthouse,” Whitfield said. “My main reason is I think we can go from a $7 million or $8 million or $9 million bond down to a $3.5 million or $4 million bond and save our taxpayers some money.”

Commissioners also approved an old $2,400 expenditure for a previous study on the riverfront property, which was at one point considered for a new annex.

In other news, Loudon County commissioners:

• Approved a new contract with Priority Ambulance.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding between the county and Lenoir City to hold criminal court trials in Lenoir City.

• Passed a resolution for the Tennessee Department of Transportation to move forward with using right of way in front of Loudon High School for a road project.