Cortland Standard .net

Plan to cost between $614,000 to $1.3 million, move
departments among 3 county buildings

By CATHERINE WILDE
Staff Reporter
cwilde@cortlandstandard.net
Maintenance Department Supervisor Brian Parker offered a sweeping plan Tuesday to relocate several Cortland County offices in an effort to resolve space shortages and inadequate layouts of several departments.
Parker presented to the Buildings and Grounds Committee a document outlining his plan, saying the renovation, which could cost between $614,000 to $1.3 million, would be paid off in five to six years with little affect on the county budget.
Parker estimates that by paying for the renovations with rent revenue from the county’s building at 37 Church St., the budget would be impacted less than 1 percent yearly.
Legislators did not discuss the idea, saying they need more time to review the proposal.
A special meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee might be called later in the month to discuss the plan.
The proposal presents two scenarios.
Each option involves moving programs and people into different spaces in the Cortland County Courthouse, a county-owned building at 37 Church Street, and the County Office Building through different steps over about two years.
Under the first scenario, space in the basement of the Courthouse, vacated by the Department of Motor Vehicles’ recent move to River Street, would be renovated and used for the District Attorney Office and grand jury room.
The Planning Department would move from its current location at 37 Church St. to the east wing of the Courthouse basement, where the Probation Department is currently located. The first floor of the Courthouse where the District Attorney Office is, would also be renovated for the Planning Department’s use.
The Probation Department would move to 37 Church Street.
Renovation costs for this scenario are estimated between $614,000 to $767,150.
In the second scenario, the vacated DMV space in the Courthouse basement would house the Probation Department.
The Planning Department would move to the west wing of the Courthouse basement.
The District Attorney Office would be consolidated on the first floor of the Courthouse. The grand jury room would still be moved to the basement in the renovated probation space and a new stairway would be built for the District Attorney Office to access the room.
Under this second scenario Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County would move from the first floor of the County Office Building to 37 Church St. The space vacated by Cornell Cooperative Extension in the County Office Building, would be renovated for the Mental Health Department to take over along with the vacated Board of Elections space that is adjacent to it.
The Mental Health offices in a rented 14,440-square-foot building on Clayton Avenue would be relocated in this plan. Parker said that space is not efficient and is not wheelchair accessible. Offices are on the first and second floor and Parker says more space is being utilized than is needed. The new space for Mental Health offices in the County Office Building would be about 6,100 square feet and more efficiently laid out, he said.
The second scenario would save the county at least $116,000 in yearly rental costs for the Clayton Avenue building, though Parker says that is based on 2003 rental figures since he did not have updated numbers. The cost has risen since then, he said, so the savings would be higher.

Local articles in today's paper:

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE