County to present facility options to budget committee; new construction proposed

FARMINGTON – County commissioners received an update on a leading proposal to move county facilities out of the courthouse Tuesday, and have deferred action until the budget committee caucuses at the end of the month.

The priority is to get the District Attorney’s Office out of the building’s basement, which has a number of comfort and safety issues due to problems with leaks, humidity, mold and air quality. Commissioners have been considering two possible solutions to move the DA’s office, as well as address space shortage issues throughout the rest of the courthouse.

One option is to simply rent space for the DA’s Office, which alleviates the county’s most pressing concern and is relatively inexpensive; options presented by the assistant district attorneys range from $9 to $11.50 per square foot. Depending on the payment of utilities, the cost for leasing space for the DA’s Office could cost the county between $15,000 to $25,000 annually.

The other option is to move everything else, registry of deeds, probate court, county administration and Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, and let the DA’s Office use the first floor of the courthouse. This is a longer-term solution, as it also addresses space shortages at deeds and probate, but it more expensive. Franklin County voters killed a $4.46 million plan to purchase the Church Street Commons outright and use it for county departments; that bonded proposal would have also enlarged the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department facilities for the dispatchers.

Instead, commissioners have been working with Cousineau Properties’ owner Randy Cousineau, regarding Franklin Fairview, which is better known locally as the old Franklin Shoe building on High Street. Tuesday, Cousineau suggested the cheapest option at his property would be to rip down 9,985 square feet of the existing building and construct a new facility on the existing concrete slab. He said that option would likely be cheaper than remodeling the existing structure, which would require steel poles to support the weight of an insulated roof.

The building would have brick on three sides, with a fourth side layered in vinyl as a possible spot for future expansion. His proposal would include sprinkler and alarm systems, as well as maintenance, snow removal and insurance. Cousineau has estimated that, assuming a 15-year lease, the property would be rented at $15 per square foot, or $12,481 per month. A 2 percent increase to the rent would occur each year. A 20-year lease would be less each year, and the plans developed by Cousineau could theoretically be scaled back.

“Our decision,” Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon, said, “is if we’re going to move deeds and probate or just move the DAs.”

Commissioners did not address Cousineau’s proposal directly, instead opting to wait for the budget committee to caucus on March 21. Four days later, the preliminary budget requests by department heads are due, and County Clerk Julie Magoon said she expects to have a good idea of what the budget could look like, and what a roughly $150,000 increase would do to taxes.

Commissioner Clyde Barker, of Strong, said that the meeting with the budget committee should happen as soon as possible so the process could move forward. Construction would take 90 to a 120 days after the approval process, according to Cousineau.