The Clinton County Council held the first of two required public hearings on the Clinton County Courthouse project and the Annex Project Tuesday night.
The thrust of the meeting was for the Council’s consideration of a resolution making a preliminary determination to enter into a lease agreement or lease agreements to pay the cost of leasing real estate for the following two separate and independent projects — the renovating and equipping of the County Courthouse and the construction and equipping of a new County Annex Building for use by the county.
Clinton County Council President Alan Dunn said he didn’t have any idea what to expect.
“I really didn’t have any idea of what to expect, but it went very smooth,” said Dunn. “Excellent presentation from our professional team detailing the project from a brick and mortar standpoint as well as the financial standpoint as well.”
The projects dealing with the Courthouse and the Annex, which is the former Regions Bank Building, has been on the minds of local officials for some time.
The next public hearing will be held Tuesday, February 14, at 9 a.m. in the Courthouse. If everything goes smoothly at the hearing, the council is expected to go ahead and act on the resolution.
Renovations for the courthouse include renovating the jurors room upstairs, including adding restrooms for the area, the making of another new courtroom plus work on the HVAC systems.
As far as the Annex Building is concerned, it (the building), will be torn down with a new two floor building built in its place with a new third floor added in. Also, all lead and asbestos problems that have built up over the past couple of years in particular, will be eliminated.
In late December, Clinton County Commissioners President talked about the Annex.
“What was approved was a 41,000 square foot three story facility that would roughly $16.7 million,” he said. “The comparison that needs to be made is the renovation of the current structure to what a new structure would be. And the renovation at the floor, bottom dollar, was going to be $12.1 million.”
Brewer added the cost would probably be higher than the $12.1 million due to hidden issues that can’t be seen until the building is opened up and construction begins.
Dunn was asked how big the renovations projects are for Clinton County.
“I think this is huge,” said Dunn. “This is the centerpiece, this the core of the community. The downtown square is the area where it all begins. So to have an empty building of that size over there is frustrating.”
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So will our taxes go up again with all this unrestrained spending ? Exactly where does this tsunami wave of cash come from ? What is Clinton Counties total debt right now , before these projects ? These are questions that demand answers. Can all this debt possibly be paid in our lifetime , or are we heaping up mountains of debt for our children and grand children , even great grandchildren and beyond ? How much interest are we currently paying annually on our total debt ? This flagrant spending simply cannot continue ! We need answers and accountability , and we need them now. Expenitures of this magnitude need to be voted for by we the taxpayers .
You will need to go the county council and commissioners public hearing to ask these questions or listen to and call Partyline. I hope this helps!–Kevin Keith
Not sounding bad but curious what is going on with the other buildings that are empty and decent size in town