Courthouse addition named priority for commissioners

A courthouse addition for the county courts departments was identified as the No. 1 priority based on an informal poll during this week’s county commissioner workshop.
The five-member panel over the course of an hour Tuesday revisited a number of projects either in progress or on the drawing board. Among the projects in either the planning or discussion stages, however, an addition to the courts building and remodeling – estimated to cost about $8 million – stood above all others.
Commissioners discussed other projects on their radar, including sheriff’s department cell expansion, and lobby and kitchen upgrade for an estimated $3.5 million, and a new or remodeled animal control building.
Discussion eventually shifted to financing. Commissioner Don Eaton said the county would be wise to consider the sale of bonds, as interest rates are at 40-year lows.
Before commissioners move forward with the courthouse expansion and other projects, they agreed to seek firm costs for each of the plans. Accurate numbers will put them in a better position to prepare for a potential bond sale, commissioners agreed.