Court order gives county 50 months to complete courthouse work

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

After years of wrangling agreements for courthouse renovations and expansion among local officials and state judges, the end of the issue is four years and two months away, according to the terms of the order entered Friday in Commonwealth of Virginia Vs. The Board of Supervisors of Smyth County.
The board has 50 months to complete repairs, renovations and expansion of the courthouse, referred to in the order as the Expanded Courthouse.
The order said the court finds Smyth County “has developed a plan to address the conditions of the current facilities for the Circuit Court, the General District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court… . The County's plan consists of (a) repairing, renovating and expanding the Court Facilities … and (b) providing 51 parking spaces at the site of the Expanded Courthouse and between 90 to 100 new parking spaces nearby to the site of the Expanded Courthouse… . The Expanded Courthouse and the New Parking are collectively referred to as the "New Courts Facilities."
The order said the county’s parking plan includes the creation of between 90 to 100 new parking spaces, either by surface lots or by building a parking deck (or a combination of both), adjacent to East Court Street and East Strother Street….”
“All parking spaces on the Expanded Courthouse's lot…,” the order said, shall be for the exclusive use of the Courts on business days and all other days during which any of the Courts is in session. All other parking spaces provided in the County's Plans shall be available for use by the Courts when and as needed by the Smyth County Courts.”
While the order enforces the county’s plan for the courts and their clerks, the plan’s additional provision for space for the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Commissioner of Revenue, the Treasurer and the Sheriff in the courthouse are outside the order. The document said “nothing in this Order requires or obligates the County to use such spaces for such officers in the Expanded Courthouse, and such officers do not have standing to enforce the terms of this Order.”
A timeline directing the pace of completion of the several phases of construction is part of the order and includes their start: “The County shall begin its efforts to create the New Courts Facilities immediately after the entry of this Order and shall proceed to complete these efforts as soon as possible. Time is of the essence.”
Final design development documents for the courthouse are due within 152 calendar days after the date of the order, and the Parking Plan is due within 178 calendar days. Final construction (bidding) documents for both the courthouse and the parking plan are due within 366 calendar days. “Copies of each of the phase documents referred to above shall be presented to counsel and the architect for the Commonwealth for their review. The review by the Commonwealth or the various documents referred to in this paragraph is to ensure compliance with the programmatic requirements, spatial adjacencies and general building concepts as depicted and as provided in the County's Plans,” the order said.
For its part, the Commonwealth “shall report to the Court and to the counsel and architect for the County within 14 calendar days of its receipt of the documents at each phase as to whether, in its opinion, the County is” suitably following the plan. “If there is a dispute between the parties,” over adherence to the plan, the order says deadlines will be extended by the time taken to reach a resolution by the parties or by the court.
The order gives the county 20 months to complete the bid process, select a construction contractor and start construction of the “New Courts Facilities,” and builds in some wiggle room for changes not requiring court authorization. “Once a contractor has been selected, the County may authorize change orders regarding the Final Construction (bidding) Documents as long as such change orders maintain the programmatic requirements, spatial adjacencies and general building concepts in the County's Plans.”
County Attorney John Tate addressed that matter before Commonwealth’s Judge Designate Robert P. Doherty Jr. Friday before the judge entered the order. “This order has been designed to avoid bothering you with minor details,” Tate said. “Change orders are under the control of the county and will not involve the commonwealth.”
The courthouse “shall be suitably furnished for the Courts…,” the order said. “The County shall propose the Court Furnishings to counsel and the architect for the Commonwealth, unless the Commonwealth designates other person(s) to receive such submissions. If any dispute arises regarding the Court Furnishings, such dispute shall be submitted to a committee of four persons, two of whom shall be appointed by the County and two of whom shall be appointed by the Commonwealth, for the committee's review and approval. The four committee members shall be appointed when it is first necessary to address any disputes about the Court Furnishings. Any dispute over the Court Furnishings that cannot be resolved by the committee shall be submitted to this Court - or if the parties mutually agree, to a third-party neutral chosen by unanimous agreement of all committee members - for a final and binding decision.”
Ultimately, assuming an absence of disputes whose resolutions push back deadlines, the county has just over four years to fulfill the order. “The County shall complete construction of the New Courts Facilities with suitable furnishings for, and full occupation by, the Courts and the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court's probation and intake offices, no later than 50 months from the date of this Order.”

dkegley@wythenews.com