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FARMINGTON – Franklin County voters will see an additional question appear on their Nov. 2 ballots this year, as the county government seeks permission to borrow money to move operations across the street.
County commissioners unanimously approved requesting a $4,385,000 bond from the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, conditional upon the approval of voters at this year’s election. The money would be used to relocate most of the county functions in the Franklin County Courthouse building across Church Street, into the Church Street Commons.
The current plan would move the registry of deeds and probate court functions to the first and second floors, respectively. The 10,000 square foot space would also house county administration functions, on the second floor, and the local Emergency Management Agency officials, in the first floor annex. The basement would be used for storage and a general purpose meeting room.
At the courthouse, the shift would allow the District Attorney’s Office and related functions to move out of the basement, a location which has caused a series of logistic and maintenance-related headaches over the past few years. The county is eager to move all county-controlled functions out of the courthouse, with the hope of eventually getting the state court system to take over maintenance of the aging building.
Different plans have been suggested for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department facilities at the Franklin County Jail site, but the most recent proposals have include an increase in the size of the dispatch facilities in the so-called “white house.”
Commissioners and planners see these proposals as cheaper options than building new facilities from the ground up, and the proposal also keeps deeds and probate in the Farmington downtown, which has been the preference of several local residents and business owners.
After setting the final bond amount in the request, commissioners were informed that the bond would also need to include $80,000 for a special bond issuance fee. Due to the Nov. 2 date for the referendum, the county would miss the MMBB’s autumn round of offering and would need to pay the $80,000 in order to secure the bond. County administrators intend to call a special meeting of the commissioners to vote on increasing the $4.4 million bond amount.
The bond process includes requirements of public hearings in all three county districts, and the commissioners and project planners intend to use other meetings and a committee to inform the public about the project.
In other, related business, commissioners approved expending $1,915 for an environmental assessment of the Church Street Commons. They chose the lowest bidder for the assessment, S.W. Cole, of Gray.
This will be tax dollors well spent, With the problums at the old courthouse if the bond fails it will cost at least the same to bring the building up to code, and the building will still be to small to fit everything needed in it. The Commissioners have spent years to find the least exspensive solution. I beleave this is it.