The County Mayor, those who do planning of such projects and county employees who work in the Greene County Courthouse agree there are no easy answers when it comes to addressing the 100 plus year-old building needs and doing so while maintaining normal day to day operations there.
The group gathered at the courthouse Thursday afternoon to discuss options for moving forward on the project.
Those options would be to:
(1) renovate and deal with the sewer issues while maintaining operations in the courthouse. While a recent test showed asbestos levels show no concerns at this time, a group of those who deal with such matters on a regular basis were invited to the meeting for their input on possible plans. One of the concerns voiced was there would be drilled required floor by floor to address the bathroom issues would raise the possibility of asbestos being disturbed, which would immediately shut down the project.
(2) building a new approximate 9,000 square foot addition with an 8-to-10-month construction time and a cost of $2.5 to $2.8 million
(3) or move courthouse operations to the Annex while work is completed at the courthouse.
Any renovations outside would also create more limited parking than there is already. In case of renovations, options are also being studied for temporary bathrooms adjacent to the courthouse building.
It was agreed neither option one nor three allow for any extra space, which is already at a minimum in the existing facility.
There is a fourth option the group asked the mayor to address with the property owner. That is the availability of the former bank and currently vacant building adjacent to the courthouse owned by Scott Niswonger.
The group will meet again in two weeks.
