Citizens oppose $20 million pricetag for courthouse renovation

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

Nineteen people stepped forward from a standing-room only crowd in the county supervisors meeting room Wednesday to oppose the board’s plans for a $20 million bond issuance to help pay for a courthouse renovation and expansion. While the reasons for their opposition varied, they ran along themes of supporting school renovation and replacement and avoiding capital commitments in the current economic downturn.
The courthouse renovation, begun years ago as a relatively simple plan to enhance building security, has gone through multiple renderings of expansions, each more complex and expensive than the former, and each, according to county officials, proposed to placate Virginia Supreme Court judges and forestall their potential court order for a completely new courthouse.
Until now, the courthouse renovation has been pitted against preservation of the 1908 school house, the destruction of which would make room for parking state judges have demanded be made available near the courthouse. A parking deck was proposed as a means of saving the old school.
Now, the courthouse project is seen by many as endangering action on the widely recognized need for a new Marion Intermediate School, identified by consultants last year as the most needy of the county school facilities, all of which present needs for upgrades. Last month, the county school board voted to move forward with public discussions of the first phase of its school renovation/replacement needs.
Also in October, the supervisors adopted a scaled-down renovation plan that followed local judges’ decree that court cannot be held in a construction zone, nullifying a plan to add on to the courthouse, and then move courts and offices into the new part while the old section was being renovated. A building off-site, perhaps of new construction to meet security and court-serving computer infrastructure requirements, would be built under the new plan, according to Charlie Clark, chairman of the county’s courthouse committee.
After the hearing, Clark said, because the matter is under litigation by the state judges, not much information can be made public.
The speakers Wednesday supported replacing MIS, demanded explanation of the courthouse plans, urged fiscal responsibility and retention of offices downtown, and preservation of the 1908 school.
Earl McClure said the bond issuance was probably “six months premature,” and called for the supervisors to “slow down a bit.” He said the county had no master plan or building schedule for the courthouse project, and no real numbers on which to base a cost estimate.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Roy Evans, whose office would be removed from the courthouse and relocated into an administrative building under the latest plan publicly discussed by the supervisors, said it “doesn’t make sense to spend $20 million to go backward.” Evans said the logistical challenges of operating his office perhaps “miles” from the courthouse, and the inconvenience to the public introduced by the separation, made the plan incomprehensible.
Evans said he was frustrated that he and the other constitutional officers – county treasurer and commissioner of revenue – had not been asked for input into the plan and learned from a News & Messenger article that “the constitutional officers would be out of the courthouse.”
He also said borrowing $20 million for the courthouse would limit the county’s ability to borrow money for school facility improvements.
He asked the supervisors to “weigh what it’s going to cost to borrow $20 million” and spend “part of that encumbrance on the schools.”
Daniel Pickle referenced the downturn in the national economy and said the county needs to “get conservative,” and find the simplest way to comply” with the state judges’ demands for the courthouse.
J.S. Staley attempted to engage the supervisors in a dialogue during the hearing about how the $20 million figure had been reached, how much money would be needed to service the debt and its source. Public hearings are generally not question-and-answer sessions, but the supervisors’ chairman, Darlene Neitch, said the debt probably would be served by taxes. She sought to end the questioning by saying, “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“It looks like you were premature in having this hearing,” Staley said.
Fairfax Patterson said the county was considering spending “a tremendous amount of money and we don’t know what we’re getting.”
County Treasurer Tom Burkett said he is opposed to the courthouse renovation and the bond issuance and thought the matter could “be resolved in a more efficient way.”
Joel Pugh said he was opposed to the bond issuance because of “several things to work on besides the courthouse. You’ve been listening to the few instead of the many. Listen to the many…”
Pugh said it would be a mistake for the courthouse to be built and MIS to not be demolished and rebuilt. He also questioned why the judges fear for their safety in the courthouse when Evans, the prosecutor seeking the maximum penalty for crimes, is not afraid for his safety.
Martha Copenhaver said the old school house could be renovated for offices, and that MIS “is just about ready to crack apart. We need to spread our money thin and watch our budget.”
Jean Parks said she was concerned for the integrity of Marion’s historic district and had “lots of questions” about where the county is headed.
Grant Hardin rode a newly famous plumber’s national wave when he said, “You can call me Joe the Taxpayer,” who is concerned about the future and the future is his child. He said he did not know when MIS might fall down, but that the courthouse employees took their jobs with the knowledge risk was involved. He also said, parents are a “big demographic” with plans to “get together” and “ask questions and act.”
Clayborne Gwyn said he hoped “we don’t see the $20 million go through,” and that “we don’t know what the plan is. That’s a lot of money to spend without our knowledge.” He questioned the wisdom of building “the Taj Mahal” when in the future video trials may be held.
He suggested using one of the vacant buildings downtown instead of building an administrative facility. “Keep the constitutional offices downtown,” he said. “Downtown Marion needs them.”
Joe Copenhaver was worried about higher taxes, he said, would be needed to pay for the courthouse and would burden the elderly and people on fixed incomes. “Be careful how you proceed, and I hope you don’t overburden the county,” he said.
Ken Heath, saying he spoke as a citizen and not as a member of the Marion Town Council or executive director of the Marion Downtown Revitalization Association, said people had worked hard downtown, “the front door of the county,” and asked that the old school, “an architectural gem,” be preserved. He said it was important to keep as many offices as possible downtown.
Melanie Lincoln said she was speaking as a parent of children ages 7 months and four years and as a reading specialist at MIS, “I do not want my children going to the school I work in.” She said she will send them elsewhere if she has to.
Joe Ellis said he was echoing Heath and said a parking lot “does not generate revenue,” but the old school can through adaptive reuse. “Please consider the school as an opportunity, a revenue generator as part of our tourism effort.” Ellis has proposed the century-old building house a school of Appalachian music. He called for more consideration of vacant buildings downtown for administrative offices.
Alan Gray asked the supervisors to consider scaling down the project in favor of school improvements, saying, “Investing in children and their future is a greater investment than in the courthouse.”
Amy Hardin said as a parent and pediatrician, she sees the economy’s effects on families “and no bond is passed yet.” She said the community cannot afford a $20 million debt.
Bill Pugh said the county leaders “need to look long and hard before spending $20 million on [the courthouse]. We need to spend about $50 million on the schools.”
Donny Brooks advocated spending money for the children. “The more money we spend on them, the less we’ll need the courthouse.”
Kelly Gray was the last person to speak and asked, “How do you draw families into the county?” She said she cannot recommend the county to her friends because “when you go in the schools, you don’t feel like education is valued.”
The supervisors will consider a resolution on the bond issue when they reconvene this meeting Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m.