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Fast facts

The amount of usable area in Franklin County offices with current conditions first and proposed expansion, including buying Church Street Commons, second is:

Emergency Management Agency, current 485 square feet, new 1,200 square feet

County administration, current 965 square feet, new 1,365 square feet

Registry of Deeds, current 1,765 square feet, new 2,270 square feet

Register of Probate, current 645 square feet, new 2,125 square feet

Project costs for Sheriff’s Department and county government operations:

Total construction, $2.63 million

Administrative and reserve, $495,600, including $264,000 contingency

Fees and services, $539,750, including $80,000 special bond issue, if necessary

Church Street Commons purchase, $795,300

Source: Franklin County commissioners, courthouse custodian Greg Roux

FARMINGTON — Voters throughout Franklin County face a $4.46 million bond referendum Tuesday, Nov. 2, to pay for housing improvements for county government, law enforcement and communications center.

County officials believe if nothing is done then they face more than $2 million in upgrades to make the courthouse efficient, safe and bring it up to code. In the end, they will be left with less space than is already usable in the 125-year-old courthouse, county custodian Greg Roux said.

That figure doesn’t cover what needs to be done to address space, environmental and security problems at the Sheriff’s Department building.

The estimated $4.46 million for the two-part project would cost a property owner $6.60 per $100,000 of property valuation per year for 20 years, according to county officials. That funding includes buying Church Street Commons Building across from the courthouse and renovating it and building a two-story addition with full basement to house county government operations, except for the District Attorney’s Office.

The last of three public hearings on the two-part buildings project will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, in the courtroom at the Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington.

Sheriff’s Department

A committee has explored options with architects and engineers for two years to find solutions to the problems at the sheriff‘s building for 911 emergency dispatchers, deputies and office staff. They currently work out of a one-story cape-style building.

A tour of the facilities in September showed the tight quarters that deputies and dispatchers work in. At least 11 people use the space during a day, not including patrol deputies.

Dispatch space takes up about about 25 percent of the building, project consultant John Cleveland said during the tour Sept. 30.

By doubling the building space, dispatchers would move into an addition that would be built on the back of the building. That would free up the dispatchers’ space for deputies use.

Now, there is a small office for patrol deputies, a small office for two detectives and a small office for a sergeant. To get to one office  requires passing through the others.

The hallway also appears to double as storage and work space. The lieutenant’s office, which also serves as a temporary evidence room, is also tight. Chief Deputy Ray Meldrum’s office also houses file cabinets and technology equipment that records radio traffic. Sheriff Dennis Pike created an annex office at his Farmington home.

The office manager and a secretary share space at the end of the hallway.

There is no designated room for interviews of suspects, witnesses or victims, Meldrum said. Doors to the detectives’ offices are closed to conduct interviews and sometimes they need to go off site to conduct interviews.

Besides space and security difficulties, Meldrum said he has concerns that the water in the spring will someday come up over the threshold to the room where 911 equipment is located.

Outside the sheriff’s building are four large, metal containers. Three house records, reports and equipment for sheriff’s staff, the other houses items for county government.

County courthouse

A tour of the county courthouse also demonstrated that storage and usable space is running out.

There is more than one person in offices for each department, and there is little or no space for historic records. There is also no probate courtroom, which makes it difficult when there are sensitive issues taking place such as adoptions, Cleveland said. In that office alone, three people have desks. To get into the vault behind two of the desks, one has to move. Anyone arriving to apply for a passport is out of luck until the probate court session is over, Cleveland said, because they are left in the hallway.

In the Registry of Deeds’ Office, there are several desks, a copying machine and the break room for the entire building. The deeds record vault has less than a full-shelf left for the books that house the transactions, Registrar of Deeds Susan Black showed visitors. There is space for about six months worth of work, she said. Maps and other historic materials are housed downstairs on the ground level. More books are stored on the third floor.

County commissioners hold meetings in an office that fits about a dozen people if they squeeze in.

The second floor houses Superior Court, judge’s chambers, and attorney, jury, witness and defendant rooms. All are small.

The third floor is off limits to the public, except for an emergency communications room in case of a county disaster.

On the ground level, the District Attorney’s Office, victims’ advocate, three legal secretaries and a state police trooper share space in two areas. The Emergency Management Agency, custodian and a mapping room, along with storage spaces are also on that level. The Assistant District Attorney’s offices have had air-quality issues in the past because of water and moisture seeping into the building. If voters approved the bond, the DA’s staff would move up to the main floor, the only department that will be left at the courthouse.

The elevator, built years ago, also located on the ground level, is not considered handicap accessible, Roux said.

Once some work is done on the courthouse to bring one item up to federal and state codes, then the rest of building has to be updated, Cleveland said.

The county has done some work to address safety concerns highlighted by the state Office of the Fire Marshal earlier this year but is waiting to see if voters will approve the purchase of Church Street Commons to do more.

Church Street Commons

The Commons, a former printing shop and automobile dealership, was upgraded within the last decade and would undergo more renovation if the bond question passes. The price includes $795,300 for the building and about $2 million in renovations and an addition. It would significantly increase the space for county government operations, Roux said.

If voters decide not to invest at the interest rate of 2.8 percent, the county will need to build new stair towers and install a new heating, ventilation and air-condition system to replace an aging one at the courthouse, Roux said. The building would also need to be upgraded to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, and have most of its mechanical systems updated and floors replaced, he said.

The state’s judicial system is interested in restoring the courthouse and would be responsible for the cost, Cleveland said.

“The list is extensive and continues to grow,” Roux said of the needs in the courthouse. “If all the upgrades and repairs were done to the courthouse, it is estimated to cost at least $2 million to $3 million, and you will still end up with a building that is too small.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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