HOOD RIVER — Over the last few months, county staff has been working with a team to identify a solution for its crumbling courthouse. In its current state, it is not fit for purpose. The discussion covered repair/retrofit options as well as replacement options that might be available.
According to staff, there are problems with the current building: the roof leaks, and there are issues with parking. Most significantly, there are security concerns. However, if it’s eventually decided a new building is required, any money put toward repairs would, in a sense, be wasted, and commissioners are worried about sunk costs.
“We have to fix the conditions because, granted, [the district attorney and sheriff] aren’t using umbrellas but they are using buckets,” said Public Works Director Cori Wiessner on the state of water leaks in the building.
There are two sites the taskforce — which includes collaboration with the Oregon Associations of Counties and the Oregon Judicial Department — has been working on, but currently neither option is financially feasible. One plan requires a $1.80 per thousand price tag, to which Commissioner Arthur Babitz said, “We all know that … is insane and no one is going to put that on the ballot … [and] as described, is not achievable for a county of our size.”
This led to a discussion of whether the systems and requirements in place would ever make a courthouse in each county feasible, which is a constitutional requirement to allow for a jury of peers as Mitchell Hein, architect for DLR Group pointed out.
The taskforce is running into the same problem they found the last time a new courthouse was considered in 2016 — money and balancing the many needs of the county. Commissioner Ed Weathers raised concerns about public appetite for the project.
“Public safety, that’s something tangible … but a building? That’s harder for [the public and] me to wrap my head around,” he said.
The proposal put forward by County Administrator Allison Williams and approved by commissioners will go forward, both with seeking funding from the state and continuing to look at solutions for the current property. The county is seeking planning funds from multiple avenues at the state level to continue with this process.
“I think this spring is a really telling timetable for us,” said Williams.
They are attempting to bring it to the 2027 legislative session so funding can be distributed by 2029.
“I think we have to make an ask,” said Commissioner Leticia Moretti. “Now is the time.”
Williams also said that the timing of this discussion is good as everyone is doing facilities planning, and there is potential for collaboration with the city and neighboring counties to meet the needs.
Recently, Reps. Christine Drazan and Jeff Helfrich met with commissioners and, according to Babitz, Drazan said that it may be worth reviewing how trials work and how courthouses function, given modern technology. This legislative review is another avenue the courthouse taskforce will explore while continuing to plan for the future builds. These difficulties are also faced by other counties across the state, with successful courthouse replacements only occurring in larger counties, or counties with mitigating factors like natural disasters that made additional funding available.
In other news
Also in this meeting, a garbage rate increase of 2.58% was approved, which Moretti noted was low given how much other things have increased. Jim Winterbottom of Waste Connection, representing Hood River Sanitation, also noted that in the coming months there may be a need to round up or down at the transfer station because of the phasing out of the penny.
Commissioners received a quarterly report from OSU Extension, the first of these types of reports that commissioners have requested to stay more up to date on the needs of the community rather than only receiving updates during the budget as the system was before.
And Moretti’s report included the announcement that the 23-bed warming shelter has opened for the winter as of the date of the meeting, Nov. 17.
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