Martin V. Saffer, Pocahontas County Commissioner
 
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Court House Addition....Right Time?

Author Message
Martin Saffer
Nov 13, 2009
6:31 am
Court House Addition....Right Time?

As we are looking at the prospect of an addition to the Court House, I invite the public to consider this expenditure of public revenue. The population of the County is approximately the same as it was in 1900 when the Court House was built. So what are the needs and problems that an addition would solve? And do you think this is a good investment in the County's future? Is this an investment in government or in the public? What do you want to invest in? Would we be better if we restructured uses in the Court House and solved the storage problem? What do you think? What other considerations does this project mean to you?

Jeremy Bauserman
Nov 13, 2009
8:41 am
Re: Court House Addition....Right Time?

With the emergence of regional jails are all those cells at the Pocahontas jail still needed or could some of them be converted to additional office space? Would that pose an impossible situation from a security stand point?
I note that one other Commissioner opposed this in early 2008 because of the "historical value" of the jail.

Martin Saffer
Nov 13, 2009
8:48 am
Re: Court House Addition....Right Time?

Personally, I think the jail is an embarrassment to our past. The antiquated facility was far below minimum standards and there were successful appeals to the West Virginia Supreme Court concerning the jail. If any remnant of the building were to be kept, I think it would be the cut stone and brick which could be used as a facade for a modern building if that were found useful to the overall plan.

Rational Man
Nov 17, 2009
7:27 pm
Re: Court House Addition....Right Time?

What kind of study was done to determine that the county needs another building so it can conduct business for the same number of people who paid taxes a hundred years ago? Even so, the Court House was expanded when the population was larger than today. So, what justifies building an annex except for the vanity of a few people who think government should keep growing regardless of the need?

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