GRAHAM — It would cost up to $15,000 for the Alamance County Board of Commissioners to move its formal meetings to the renovated old courthouse from the County Office Building, according to County Manager Craig Honeycutt.
If a vote were taken this week, it doesn’t appear there’s enough support among the commissioners to approve such a move. The commissioners could decide to take a formal vote on the issue later this year.
Commissioners Eddie Boswell, Tim Sutton and Linda Massey said on Tuesday they wouldn’t support moving the meetings to the old courthouse because of costs associated with the move. Commissioners Tom Manning and Bill Lashley said they would support moving board meetings to the renovated old courthouse after it re-opens.
The commissioners toured the renovation project on May 2 at the old courthouse to help decide if a move is necessary. After considering the costs, a majority of the commissioners said on Tuesday spending additional local funds for a move wouldn’t be practical during current economic conditions. The county’s latest projected deficit for fiscal 2011-12 is $480,000.
According to Honeycutt, costs associated with a move would include furniture, wiring and camera costs. A majority of the infrastructure needed for sound and visuals would already be in place to conduct meetings. Honeycutt said on Tuesday the commissioners hadn’t formally decided what to do.
The commissioners’ meetings would be held in the main courtroom at the courthouse, if a move was approved by the board. A fire at the old courthouse Monday night has delayed the re-opening of the facility between 60 and 90 days, Honeycutt said.
If the commissioners were to hold their meetings in the courtroom, it would take up to 45 additional days to complete the transition before a first board meeting could be held.
Massey said there isn’t a need to spend money on a move.
“We can handle it where we are,” Massey said.
The county spent $13,892 in May 2008 to renovate and upgrade the existing commissioners’ meeting room at the county office building. Nearly $3,500 was spent during the period on a new projector and screen for the overflow room.
Lashley said he supports moving the commissioners’ meetings because he believes that the renovated building would be a showcase for the community and would allow more room for the public to attend.
Manning also said the renovated main courtroom would give the commissioners more space to conduct meetings.
“We are limited where we are with the overflow room,” Manning said.
Manning said the commissioners should decide soon what they want to do regarding a potential move but said there’s no rush to move the meetings, if the board decides to go that way.
Sutton said if the commissioners move their meetings then the existing board meeting room would likely be used by the Alamance County court system. It would cost another $2,000 to renovate the existing board room for the court system’s use, Sutton said.
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