Commissioners react to association’s concerns with new county facility

FARMINGTON – County commissioners reacted to recent calls from the Farmington Downtown Association today at their meeting, noting that plans to move some county functions to the Franklin County Holding Facility site were still extremely preliminary.

In a letter addressed to the Farmington Board of Selectmen on July 8, the association’s president, Michael Mansir speaking on behalf of the association, asked selectmen to help encourage the commissioners to leave county functions in the courthouse building. The association asked for help in retaining the downtown as the “county seat of Franklin County” and noted that some options for rent already existed locally.

The association’s issue comes after the building committee proposed, in the latest evolution of a multi-million dollar project, to consolidate all county functions in a single building located near the jail north of town. That proposal would create a facility next to the jail to house dispatch services, the headquarters of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the local Emergency Management Agency and county administrators, as well as probate court and the registry of deeds. That project would go hand-in-hand with an expected renovation of the Superior Courthouse building on Main Street.

The commissioners today said that the new proposal, which moves probate and deeds out of the courthouse and away from the downtown, was just the latest concept of a continuing design process. They also welcomed further debate and invited local attorney Paul Mills, who had expressed interest, to join the building committee.

“The big problem is when you start talking about deeds and probate,” Commissioner Fred Hardy said. “That’s when things start to heat up.”

Hardy said that he thought moving the sheriff’s department’s offices and dispatchers in together with the local Emergency Management Agency’s office made some sense, but he wasn’t certain that moving other departments out of the downtown was a good idea.

In other business, the commissioners were informed that three new employees had been hired at the jail. Aaron Marden will come on as a custodian and Phil Richards was hired as the transport utility officer. Albert Smith, who has 35 years of service to the county, will serve as the transport supervisor.