Odessans asked for new courthouse input
Members of the Butler-Cohen design-build team met with a variety of Odessans from those who work at the courthouse to elected officials to folks who are just interested in the project.
A new courthouse is coming and is funded by $325 million in certificates of obligation issued by county commissioners last November. The certificates will also fund an overhaul of the Ector County Juvenile Justice Center.
Since that time it's been a bit of a roller coaster of land purchases and a current state of uncertainty of where the courthouse will be built. The preferred plan is to build it at the site of the current downtown U.S. Post Office. The county purchased that land for $4.7 million last year. What is holding things up is an agreement with the USPS to abandon that office and relocate as they still have a lease on the space despite the sale of the land.
Originally the county was going to assist the USPS in finding a new location but that has been abandoned as the amount the USPS pays to lease the downtown location and the needs of the USPS for what that new office will entail have been problematic, per County Judge Dustin Fawcett.
Fawcett has said the county now hopes to get the USPS to sign on the dotted line to leave their current spot and move into the bottom floor of the planned parking garage that will sit near the new courthouse. That agreement, Fawcett said, should have some answer in the next 30 days or so. If a deal cannot be reached the new courthouse will have to be relocated.
Commissioner Samantha Russell has pitched locating the new courthouse at the site of the current health department. That plan, Fawcett said, was looked at about 18 months ago by the court prior to Russell taking office. On Tuesday members of the committee created to look at building a new library admonished the court telling them that health department land was promised to the group for a new library build.
The library group did not walk away Tuesday with the deed to the land but did get a promised $10 million in county funds moved into an account that can be used as the new library moves forward. They were asked to be patient until word from USPS and their plans are decided.
On Tuesday the commissioners court also agreed to allow Butler-Cohen the use of the old Henderson Drug building as a construction office for the life of the courthouse project.
The Butler-Cohen reps led the Wednesday meeting and said other meetings as well as a website and a QR code will be used to keep the public informed and to solicit suggestions from Odessans about what they called a project that will change the face of downtown Odessa.
Participants asked for a new courthouse that is cost efficient, taxpayer friendly, easy to maintain and accessible to all. Parking was a major concern that came up over and over. Russell had pitched not building a parking garage in a previous commissioners meeting but that idea seemed to be overwhelmingly panned Wednesday by those who work downtown and use the courthouse daily. Some said courthouse staff can have to walk several blocks just to get to the office and that a parking garage is important.
Butler-Cohen reps said there is value in having these meetings for the collaboration and to end up with a system that is user friendly and what the community needs.
Other ideas thrown out included an outdoor area that is secure for employees to use as well as color coordinated signage and drive through or walk up windows for those doing business at the court. On June 23 the group will meet stakeholders for operational discussions.
The new courthouse will be funded by $325 million in certificates of obligation issued by county commissioners in November. The debt will increase property taxes for Ector County residents.
Owners of a $210,000 home in Ector County will pay about $17 more a month in property taxes. A $210,000 home has a $170,000 taxable value.
The certificates will also fund an overhaul of the Ector County Juvenile Justice Center.
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