BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's Public Safety Committee on Monday endorsed a plan to keep the county's circuit courts in downtown Bentonville.
The justices of the peace voted 6-1 to recommend the downtown location to the Committee of the Whole at that panel's June meeting. Voting in favor of the motion were Sue Shadlow from District 2, Tom Allen from District 4, Pat Adams from District 6, Joel Jones from District 7, Susan Anglin from District 9 and Barry Moehring from District 15. Tom Leadabrand from District 12 voted against the motion.
What’s Next
Benton County’s Committee of the Whole will take up discussion of the location for the county’s proposed new courts building when that panel meets in June. The committee’s regular meeting is set for 6 p.m. June 9 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.
The Committee of the Whole's May meeting is set for 6 p.m. tonight and it was agreed there would be insufficient time to prepare for a discussion at the meeting. County Judge Bob Clinard is meeting with Hight-Jackson Associates, architects and representatives of the downtown plan, and discussing modifications to the conceptual drawing presented to the Quorum Court
"We could not have enough time to make the changes to the plan that have been discussed with the judge," Gary Jackson said after the meeting.
The county has studied a new courts facility for the past few years. A feasibility study identified locations in downtown Bentonville and on county property on Southwest 14th Street adjacent to the Benton County Jail.
The plan for the Southwest 14th Street location included a three-story building with 100,000 square feet of space for six courtrooms, six circuit judges and their staffs, offices for the Prosecuting Attorney and Public Defender and other county offices.
The plan allows for expansion of another 50,000 square feet of space. The plan has 475 public parking spaces, with another 72 secure parking spaces. The plan shows room to add parking as needed is the building is expanded. The plan has an estimated cost of $24 million
The plan for downtown Bentonville calls for a four-story building on Second Street with space for five courtroom and related offices and shell space for two courtrooms to be built in the future. A sky walk would connect the new building with the county courthouse.
The downtown project has an estimated $31.2 million budget when renovations to the courthouse and the courts annex are included. Construction costs for the downtown project is about $24 million.
The Walton Family Foundation, which favors the downtown option, has provided the county with a $2.8 million grant to begin renovation of the courthouse and has offered another $2 million for renovation work if the courts are kept downtown. The foundation has also offered to reimburse the county for the cost of land acquisition for the Second Street building site.
The downtown plan estimates the project would add 101 parking spaces within a one-block radius of the courthouse. The plan shows about 600 spaces available within a one-block radius of the courts facilities. The plan also proposes to make use of 113 spaces in the parking deck of the 21c Museum Hotel on days when the county is calling a jury pool to court.
The justices of the peace who voted for the motion focused on keeping the courts and related county offices downtown for historic and economic reasons. All agreed both plans met the needs for security and public safety.
"I have strong feelings about keeping the county seat downtown," Harrison said. "For historic reasons and economic ones. Both plans have rough numbers on what it will cost. I'm leaning to downtown."
Allen, who made the motion, said the county can modify the plans and make changes to the downtown option as needed. He said he made the motion to get the process moving.
Leadabrand said he believes building a facility on open ground will be less costly and more efficient over time than building a courts complex in the downtown area that includes two older buildings.
"I don't think this is a great way to do it." he said. "I don't like spending $20 million or $30 million on old buildings."
Clinard said he wants all of the justices of the peace to vote on the location question so sending the discussion to the Committee of the Whole while work on the design continues is a good move.
"This way we can get a vote by the full Quorum Court on the location that's not tied to a specific design," he said.
NW News on 05/12/2015