Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facilities Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff outline courthouse consolidation plan and ask commissioners to approve cost estimates
Summary
Staff presented a facility-assessment plan (option 1B) to consolidate annex staff into the courthouse campus, reassign space (assessor, IT, archives), and seek cost estimates for basement renovation, security upgrades and other optional work; commissioners endorsed moving to cost-estimate stage.
County staff presented the facility-assessment element of the 2025 goals and recommended option 1B as the staff-preferred way to consolidate annex staff into the courthouse campus while preserving function and public access. The recommendation emphasized maximizing existing space (clerk/recorder area, assessor area, and IT relocation to the DA basement) and creating conference and file-storage areas.
Key points: Staff explained option 1B would move seven annex staff into remodeled assessor space, relocate seven more into reconfigured areas near the public counters, and place two IT staff into the DA building basement (the former advocates’ space). The plan aims to minimize overall remodeling costs while creating centralized public counters and storage space; however, staff warned that significant basement or wall reconfigurations could affect insurance coverage and increase costs for rewiring, security hardware, and door/badge systems.
Security and operations: Commissioners asked staff to cost out optional security upgrades (badge access to back-office corridors, roll-down security gates at public counters) and to determine staffing implications if the front entry is reconfigured. Staff also noted the clerk needs a windowless counting area for ballots and proposed using the basement or alternate interior room during election tasks.
Board direction and next steps: Commissioners generally supported option 1B as a concept and asked staff to produce two cost estimates (basement remodel and the full set of optional improvements), plus a cost estimate for front-office security reconfiguration. Staff will prepare RFP language for basement work and return with more precise cost and timeline information; the annex building may be marketed when the plan sequencing is clear.
Quote: "We'd like to get two cost estimates — one for the basement remodel and one for the optional upgrades — and then come back to the board with timelines and more precise figures," staff said.
