Commissioners didn’t know whether to be confused or offended Monday when confronted with a petition charging that the county planned to pull the courthouse out of downtown.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

Commissioners didn’t know whether to be confused or offended Monday when confronted with a petition charging that the county planned to pull the courthouse out of downtown.

Tony Trow, a Glenville resident, told the board he had gathered 110 signatures in a couple of days on a petition saying the county should not abandon downtown Albert Lea. But board members insisted they have no plan for deserting the courthouse site – they are only discussing a police and judicial complex elsewhere, they said.

&uot;Where did you come up with that we’re going to abandon this facility?&uot; asked Commissioner Dan Springborg. &uot;I have never heard that.&uot;

Board Chairman Dave Mullenbach agreed. &uot;It’s something we heard from the public, that they don’t want us to do.&uot;

The board’s discussions now focus on moving the court facilities, jail, and law-enforcement center somewhere off the downtown courthouse site, then allowing the remaining county departments to absorb the space freed up when the court facilities move, Mullenbach said.

&uot;This facility would stay here and function,&uot; said Commissioner Glen Mathiason. &uot;Our discussion has been court services and jail (moving).&uot;

Trow also brought up the county-owned Stevens Hardware/Western Grocery building, just south of the courthouse, which commissioners may decide to raze. He told the board it didn’t make sense to level the building to make room for a parking lot if the county wasn’t going to need the parking spaces anyway.

Springborg said he would not support using the Stevens building if it will cost more than other alternatives. He said estimates indicate it could cost as much as 1.5 times as much to use the Stevens building.

&uot;I’d hate to pay $1.50 for a dollar’s worth of building,&uot; Springborg said.

But Commissioner Dan Belshan, who has supported exploring the Stevens option, said the county has no hard numbers on what it would cost to use the building.

&uot;There’s nobody who has written anything that’s been given to this board that’s said it will cost 1-1/2 times for that building,&uot; he said.

A $10,000 reuse study on the property, to which the county contributed $2,000, will determine what the building cna be used for but will not determine how much it would cost to renovate. The county would need to hire an architect to get those figures.

The discussion came during a courthouse workshop where board members continued taking baby steps toward a plan for the county facilities, which suffer from overcrowding and inefficient design.

The board continued to work on a plan to move the court facilities, jail and LEC out of the courthouse.

&uot;We’ve got 16 problem areas,&uot; said Commissioner Mark Behrends. &uot;In my book, a judicial building off site would solve all 16 of them in one shot.&uot;

The question is what form the judicial building would take. The board is still discussing options that include a joint jail facility with Steele, Mower or other counties; a local jail for low-level offenders, with more serious inmates being sent to higher-security jails around the region; or a new complex that encompasses all the needs within the county.

Springborg said the building would be more efficient if more services were combined under one roof.

The board decided to contact Mower County to gauge their interest in a joint jail, and in response to a query form Steele County, said they may be interested but did not commit to shipping offenders there.

The board was scheduled to meet this morning for its regular meeting.