County Commission renews courthouse talk and discusses spending of $6.6 million in Covid-relief funds
The Commission was also urged to find short-term courtroom space as judicial proceedings resume.
By Dan DeWitt
Brevard NewsBeat
BREVARD — Building a new courthouse and spending an expected $6.6 million in federal Covid-19 relief funds emerged as major topics at a Transylvania County Commission discussion about capital improvements on Monday.
Commissioners also talked about addressing short-term court needs after Clerk of Superior Court Kristi Brown requested temporary space to handle a backlog of cases caused by the Covid-19 shutdowns of the past year.
“I’m not saying, please build a courthouse,” she said. “I am saying, please compromise with me, and I don’t understand why this space (the commission chambers) can’t be used for a courtroom.”
The discussion about the new courthouse and the Covid-relief funds came after County Manager Jaime Laughter presented a long list of future projects with a total price tag of $225 million.
Big-ticket items included not only the courthouse but $52 million for addressing the county’s future sewer and water needs and $28 million for a new campus for Blue Ridge Community College.
One much smaller — and more immediate — project could well fit in with the requirements for spending the Covid-relief funds, Laughter said: adding a water line to the ongoing extension of sewage pipes from the town of Rosman to the expanding Gaia Herbs facility west of Brevard.
Though the funds come with a long list of restrictions, Laughter said, the county has been told the money can be spent on water and sewer projects. The current cost estimate for adding the water line is $1.3 million. But at the request of commissioners, Laughter will explore the cost of using a 10-inch rather than an 8-inch water main, which would fit in better with the existing system.
Regardless, adding the water line at the same time as the sewer pipes would be cheaper than adding it separately, and it would open a corridor along U.S. 64 for future development.
“I definitely think the water expansion is a no-brainer,” said Vice Chair Jake Dalton. “That just takes that area to a whole other level.”
The need for courtroom space will be especially pressing in the short term, Brown said.
Superior Court trials are scheduled to resume in mid-April and will occupy the only available courtroom in the historic downtown building, Brown said.
That leaves no room for District Court proceedings, including the handling of domestic and juvenile cases, she said.
The commission discussed several possible locations to use for this purpose — including the Rogow Room at the Transylvania County Library, a conference room at the county elections office and the commission chambers.
Commissioners also talked about obstacles to using these spaces, including a potential difficulty in ensuring security and limited parking. After discussing these, Commissioner David Guice raised the possibility of holding court after 5 pm or on Saturdays. This was not to question the need for additional space, he said afterwards, but to make sure court officials make the best use of the space available.
“I know it’s a big inconvenience and it costs money,” he said of shifting schedules, “but everything we do is going to cost money.”
That includes finding semi-permanent court space to use in the years that will likely pass until the county can replace or extensively renovate the existing courthouse. The county has previously looked at several mid-term options, Laughter said, and each of these spaces would need significant upgrades for extended use as a courtroom.
Staff will revise the cost estimates and explore other buildings that might be available to lease, and bring that information back before the commission, she said. She does not know when that will be, she wrote in an email Wednesday, “but time is of the essence.”
Commissioner Larry Chapman pushed the idea of finding a permanent solution to the lack of space.
“I think we’ve reached a crossroads on the courthouse,” he said after Laughter introduced the litany of potential capital improvements on Monday
“I think we have to put that at the top of the list.”
And though the project will almost certainly require additional taxes in some form, he continued, “I think we have got to move this forward one way or another . . . We have got to make a decision on that courthouse.”
“I do agree we’re at a crossroads,” Guice said.
Commissioner Teresa McCall didn’t argue that point, but said, given rising construction costs, even recent price estimates are likely out-of-date.
“When I look at a courthouse replacement at $42 million, that’s not $42 million,” McCall said.
According to the county’s website, the need for additional courtroom space was identified at least as far back as 2005, and the most recent estimates for either renovating the courthouse or building a new one range from almost $37 million to more than $43 million.
Guice acknowledged that the commission has not held an extended discussion on the issue recently and that some people in the community might have been under the impression the matter had been shelved.
But that has never been the case, he said. “We never stopped looking at this. We just had an election and a change in the board.”
But he also said he expects the process of finding a permanent solution to the shortage of courtroom space to accelerate in the coming months.
“A decision on the courthouse, I think, is not too far off,” he said.