BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace heard a plan concerning remodeling areas of the county's administration building.
Bryan Beeson, the county's facilities administrator, gave a presentation about the building at Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting.
The plans calls for the renovation of the first floor of the building for a new meeting place for the Quorum Court and a courtroom for Benton County Circuit Judge Doug Schrantz.
Beeson said the current Quorum Courtroom on the third floor is 2,000 square feet and the new room will be 2,700 square feet. The area is currently being utilized by the tax collector's office.
The remodeling will begin in October and the first expected meeting in the new location will be in December.
Schrantz's courtroom and offices are currently in a county-owned building on South Main Street.
The new courts facility will be in the area currently housing the county assessor's office.
The current Quorum Courtroom on the third floor will be remodeled and then will house the planning and public safety departments, Beeson said.
Benton County Central Communication is housed in the basement of the administration building and the project calls for the operator stations to be updated. The work stations will be increased from seven to 12, but can be increased up to 16 in the future, Beeson said.
The staff restrooms will be improved with showers, along with the improvement of the staff's break room with the addition of new staff bunk rooms.
The current Quorum Courtroom will be remodeled for the public safety and planning departments.
Beeson said he doesn't have a completion day for the work on the third floor and courtroom. He expects the project to take several months, but it may last most of 2024.
Benton County Judge Barry Moehring told justices of peace there are no budget numbers yet, but he said existing facilities are being used and the project is going to be economical. He said there will not be a need for additional money from the county's budget to complete the project.
Kurt Moore, the justice of peace who chairs the committee, wanted to know the plans for Schrantz's current courtroom. The county owns the building and several adjacent parking lots near the building.
Moehring said the building and specifically the parking lots will be part of the city of Bentonville's planned Quilt of Parks.
Moehring said there have not been any offers for the building and area encompassing the parking lots, but he described it as valuable property.
"In an ideal world that will be surplus property and we will get a lot for it," Moehring said.
Benton County's Quorum Court approved in December a plan to renovate and pay for more office space in Rogers for the assessor, collector and other county departments. The officers will be moved to 2111 W. Walnut St. in Rogers, known as the Rogers Annex.
The county will lease more space at the annex and renovate the building to be used for the collector's and assessor's offices.
The county pays $15,750 monthly for the 21,000 square feet it leases at the annex. The additional space in the building -- a former Kmart -- is 24,300 square feet and will cost $24,563.
The lease is for 10 years with three additional five-year extensions, with an annual increase of no more than 3% per year, according to Moehring.
The Election Commission will move to the current county revenue office in Rogers shared with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration at 1428 W. Walnut St.
The revenue and the state office are moving to the annex.
Beeson said the project at the annex is expected to be completed in August and the offices will move in September.
The project's estimated cost was $2.35 million, but it's now $3.1 million with the added costs of the air conditioners and other work.