Haywood County commissioners emerged from a 90-minute closed session after discussing possible justice center sites and took no action, signaling perhaps at least a temporary slowdown in the public phase of the land acquisition process while they negotiate privately for a site on Ratcliff Cove Road near the drive-in movie theater.

“We’re just mulling our options, since the town did not give us the zoning,” said Chairman Jim Stevens.

Though commissioners would not reveal much about negotiations for the land owned by former county commissioner John Queen (1990-94) and three others, they did say all five commissioners have visited the site. On questioning, none of them would say publicly how much the land cost. However, a source with access to the negotiations said the land was offered at $90,000 per acre.

County Manager Jack Horton said that price “was just a rumor.”

At least one commissioner said she would not ever vote to move the project to the Ratcliff Cove site.

“It is, I think, the wrong site, the wrong price, and the wrong time,” said Mary Ann Enloe after the meeting.

“People are telling me they cannot support that site. Someone needs to stand by the people,” said Enloe.

She also said a downtown site “was not off the table.”

A unanimous vote Oct. 1 to move the justice center out of downtown Waynesville and combine it with a new jail at the site of the old tannery in Hazelwood had turned the focus of the site selection to the former town that merged with Waynesville in the early 1990s. However, Waynesville officials last week denied a request by the county to amend its zoning ordinances to allow governmental operations in industrial zones. Waynesville Mayor Henry Foy and Alderman Gavin Brown voted against the rezoning, while Kenneth Moore and Gary Caldwell voted for it. Alderwoman Libba Feichter was traveling and missed the meeting, and the rezoning amendment died after the 2-2 vote.

Brown said he would not even consider changing the zoning ordinances until the county assured town officials they were moving to the Hazelwood site. He has already voice public opposition to moving the justice center out of downtown, and he accused the county of being disingenuous with the town.

“They are trying to leverage the price of the Queen property by getting us to rezone the land. They are playing games with us, and I won’t be used,” said Brown.

Foy also expressed strong opposition to the county’s request.

“I’m gonna stick with the people of Waynesville. They don’t want the courthouse moved out of downtown,” said Foy. “I’ll fight to the end.”

Waynesville attorney Burt Smith attended the town’s public hearing on the county’s rezoning request, bringing along a court reporter to officially record the proceedings. He said he owned downtown property and also represented property owners who did not want the new justice center moved out of downtown.

“On behalf of myself and my clients, we encourage you to pay attention to orderly growth of the town,” said Smith. “We are talking about a rezoning request where the head is being cut off. The board has no duty to act on this request.”

Smith said after the public hearing that bringing a court reporter did not mean he was planning any legal action.

“My clients asked me to record what’s going on,” he said.

That public hearing, held Nov. 13, left commissioners with an option on a piece of land where they legally can’t put a justice center. The option on that tract expired Nov. 15, and county attorney Chip Killian said the county would likely lose the $5,000 it paid for the option unless it eventually purchased the 13-acre tract for the agreed upon $617,000. The town’s decision, along with results of an environmental report, may have reduced the likelihood of the justice center being built in Hazelwood.

Killian said the county’s initial environmental report revealed a need for a “Phase 2” study, indicating there may be problems in some areas of the tract. However, the county is not likely to proceed with that study unless the town OKs the zoning change.

“The town will have to indicate a willingness before we would proceed with the phase 2 study,” said Killian.

While problems remain with the Hazelwood site, county officials say they still have not discussed rezoning the Ratcliff Cove site with the town. It is now zoned R-2 and R-1, neither of which would allow government buildings. The town would also have to annex the site to meet state requirements.

In addition to Joe Sam Queen’s proposal, at least three other plans for a cheaper justice center were presented to commissioners on Nov. 19.

° Assistant County Manager Rick Honeycutt presented a plan based on HLM schematics, minus two courtrooms the commissioners have decided to eliminate, that would cost $30 million. The original plan was $36.6 million and included a $4.2 million parking deck. That means Honeycutt’s revised plan would reduce projects costs by $2.4 million.

° Austin Swanger, a former school board member and county commission candidate, presented a plan he projects would cost no more than $25 million. It suggests putting the jail at the site of the current jail in Hazelwood, renovating the old courthouse, building a parking lot at the old pancake house, and constructing three “blocks and mortar” district courtrooms outside of downtown Waynesville.

° Evan McDirmit, a former Defense Department analyst, suggested eliminating the parking deck and immediately building a $6.5 million, two-courtroom building adjacent to the courthouse. That would provide five available courtrooms — the number needed in 2020, according to the county space needs study — and provide time to do another study of projected case filings. McDirmit suggested a phased program over several years that would not require a huge loan and the ensuing interest payments.

Also at Nov. 19 meeting, Finance Director Julie Davis told commissioners that, after analyzing several financing options, annual debt payment on a $30.5 million dollar loan would be somewhere between $2,264,000 and $2,216,000 per year.

 

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