What happens next?
Now what?
Commissioners also unanimously passed a resolution authorizing a general obligation capital outlay note not to exceed $350,000 to provide funds to finance, “in whole or in part, improvements, renovations and repairs to court facilities and other public buildings and facilities, acquisition of all property real or personal or connected with such public works project and construction of related infrastructure, and payment of related legal, fiscal, administrative, architectural and engineering costs” for the project.
The will hopefully “expedite” looking into the bid process on the Daniel Arthur.
The vote to approve the capital outlay note resolution does not commit the county to the terms of the note, which is a 12-year note, Commissioner Myron Iwanski (Dist. 8), explained.
“This just provides us with another option, and it doesn’t cost us anything,” Iwanski said.
The capital outlay note resolution vote was then amended by Dist. 8 Commissioner Phil Yager to have the county look into possibly getting an outlay note for a term that is less than 12 years to reduce the amount of interest the county would have to pay if they do commit to a note for the renovation project for the Daniel Arthur Building.
The amended motion was passed unanimously as well.
In December, 2015, during the monthly Commission meeting, Commissioners voted 12-2 to approve an 18-month lease with Vintage, the company that owns the building, at a rate of $5,500 a month in order to allow county officials more time to consider an alternative solution.
Several locations have been proposed: move the courthouse to the Daniel Arthur Building on Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge, move it to a two-story building on Badger Road in Oak Ridge, or to Clinton.
The option Commissioners have been eyeing most as a potential site is the Daniel Arthur Building, and they are looking at projected cost estimates for the price of what it would be to renovate the building.
Commissioners met in a special-called meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 9, in the office of Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager to look over a plan review with Michael Brady Inc., a full-service architectural and engineering firm the county has employed in the past to perform similar work, and Commissioners conferred with Oak Ridge Building Codes personnel to determine and get a better idea of the total projected renovation costs.
The original request to approve an evaluation of engineering and cost estimates to look into what it would cost to renovate the Daniel Arthur Building was made in May of 2016, by Dist. 8 Commissioner Myron Iwanski, of Oak Ridge, at a monthly Commission meeting.
A proponent of keeping the court in the City of Oak Ridge, Commissioner Myron Iwanski has maintained strong support for the Daniel Arthur Building as a potential site.
Although it has been months since Commission approved Iwanski’s request in May, plans are now moving forward. Earlier this month officials were able to see a draft of the projected costs to complete the renovation project from associates with Michael Brady.
According to a cost estimate from Michael Brady Associates, the total projected cost to renovate the Daniel Arthur Building is $301,566 — this includes field overhead expenses and sitework.
“No decision has been made, but we need to act quickly. Our lease expires on June 30. We had to extend the lease before and I hope that does not happen again,” reported Law Director Jay Yeager in an email on Tuesday, March 14, discussing the plans Commissioners reviewed at the special-called meeting.
“It looks like a three-month construct time on the project and we still need to put this out for bid,” added Yeager.
“These are only estimates and the plans are in draft form,” Yeager said.