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An enclosed walkway to connect the Hall County Courthouse and the former Public Safety Center raised some controversy Tuesday at the Hall County board meeting.
Supervisors opened the meeting by renaming the Public Safety Center at 121 S. Locust St. as the Hall County Courthouse Annex. The building that formerly housed the Grand Island Police Department and Hall County Sheriff's Department will be renovated for other court functions, including the office of the Hall County clerk of the district court.
But Supervisor Pam Lancaster said moving the district court clerk office to the annex had the support of judges only if an enclosed walkway between the two buildings could be created.
"By combining these two buildings, this will become a complex," she said.
The disagreement Tuesday came in where that walkway should be placed.
The majority of the board voted to build a $200,000 enclosed walkway from the southwest door of the courthouse to the front doors of the annex.
It will have an overhang and serve as a public entrance for both buildings from the annex parking lot, said Grand Island architect Victor Aufdemberge.
The walkway can slope so it will be ADA accessible, but its width, at just 8 feet, will be a challenge to make aesthetically pleasing, he said.
"It could look long and narrow like a gunbarrel. That's an architectural problem," he said.
Supervisors Jim Eriksen and Dan Wagoner voted against the southwest walkway. They supported building a less expensive, less visible walkway on the back of the courthouse into the old jail, which is also connected to the former Public Safety Center.
That option would cost $130,000, but would not be ADA accessible.
Aufdemberge said because that walkway on the back of the courthouse was shorter in distance, it would require steps to get over and above an underground tunnel that Hall County Corrections staff use to bring inmates into the courthouse for court hearings.
The back walkway would also have many jogs and turns where it connects to the oldest part of the jail and then winds into the former offices of the Hall County sheriff in the annex area.
Supervisor Scott Arnold said he thought the back walkway would simply be too narrow and have too many blind corners to be a safe alternative well into the future.
As far as future planning, Eriksen took issue with the south walkway. It ties into the unused southwest entrance of the courthouse, which uses a hallway that bisects the support offices of the Hall County Court system. Eriksen had hoped to permanently close the southwest entrance and hallway so the county court offices could be realigned into one office not one bisected by a hallway.
Aufdemberge was directed by the county to proceed with design of a new courtroom on the middle floor of the courthouse. That courtroom will serve a third newly appointed District Judge Bill Wright and will serve as an overflow courtroom for county court.
The county signed a contract with Aufdemberge to be paid 10 percent of the overall construction cost for the courthouse remodel and the walkway project.
In other action Tuesday, the board:
* Confessed judgment on two properties before the Tax Equalization and Review Commission. Roger Cooper's property will be valued at $57,994 and the playground at French Village Apartments will be valued at $16,090.
* Consented to receive two parcels of property used for water detention cells in the Westroad Estates subdivision. The cells are already maintained by the county.
* Appointed Supervisor Bob Rye and Roy Nenneman to the law enforcement co-location committee to oversee policies for the new Law Enforcement Center.
* Approved spending $3,125 to buy used furniture from the Grand Island Police Department that can be used by county departments.
* Approved a $30,000 separate budget for the juvenile attention center that will be run by the Hall County Sheriff's Department.
* Voted to send letters of support to state senators for LB963, which requires proof of legal entry into the United States in order to be able to receive assistance benefits.
* Directed Chief Deputy Hall County Attorney Michelle Oldham to research the county's obligations in providing general assistance such as county burials.
* Took no further action on a request to pro-rate 2006 taxes for a home in Doniphan purchased by Gary and Kathleen Schultz.
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