The commission will spend $4.5 million to repair broken elevators and make other repairs at the county courthouse, even though it’s slated for a top-to-bottom renovation within the next few years.
The inmate elevator was installed in the 1970s, and the manufacturer stopped servicing that model in 2001. Both of the public elevators have been on the fritz at various times for the past few years as well. None of them are currently working. Because parts are not available, it will take an estimated seven months to make the repairs.
ACC officials had hoped to cannibalize parts from one elevator to keep the other running until the courthouse undergoes a full renovation as part of an upcoming space modernization project. $78 million in sales tax revenue from SPLOST 2020 is budgeted to build a new judicial center and turn the existing courthouse into city government offices. But that project is still years away.
In addition to the elevators, ACC is also replacing the courthouse’s aging HVAC system, replacing the roof and making other, smaller upgrades. The total cost is $4.5 million.
“The vast majority of these projects are things that would need to be done as it’s converted to an administrative building,” assistant manager Andrew Saunders told commissioners at their Dec. 17 agenda-setting meeting. A vote on the expenditure is scheduled for Jan. 7.
The commission will also vote next month on recommendations for safety improvements to Newton Bridge Road. Property tax growth from new developments like General Time is being set aside for infrastructure along the corridor, and so far the tax allocation district (TAD) is taking in about $200,000 a year, according to Girtz. That funding could be used as collateral for a loan or to pay back bonds, he said.
A committee of property and business owners is recommending roundabouts at Kathwood Drive and Vincent Drive, a road diet study, additional lighting and construction of sidewalks to make the corridor safer. “As a parent who’s driven this corridor 10,000 times, taking a kid to the ballpark [the Holland Youth Sports Complex] is not optimally safe,” Girtz said.
Other items up for a vote in January include: a design for an $8.3 million recovered material processing and reuse facility, to replace the current outdated recycling center; an all-way yield sign at Boulevard and Nacoochee Avenue; a concept plan for a sidewalk along Sycamore Drive; a contract to design a sidewalk, crosswalks and shared-use path along Lexington Road; $62,000 in funding for the Athens Land Trust and East Athens Development Corp. to provide housing counseling for low-income homebuyers; a $1.7 million grant application for intersection improvements at Oglethorpe and Hawthorne avenues; and accepting $420,000 from the Athens Downtown Development Authority to build a pocket park at the Costa Building parking lot on Washington Street.
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