News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County will purchase two additional pieces of property in the Spring Street-Broad Street corridor for Justice Center parking.
Commissioners voted 16-8 Monday night to spend the $1.3 million to purchase the land at 538 East Spring Street and 613 East Broad Street. Without the purchase, County Mayor Randy Porter said the county would not have the available parking needed to expand the jail and justice center.
Much of the concern among commissioners has centered on the price of the parcels. Commissioner Sam Sandlin said commissioners purchased land in August, 2018 across Maple Street at a cost of about $8.90 per square foot. Sandlin said the price tag on these two properties stands at about $7.50 per square foot.
“My calculations are we paid about $8.90 per square foot for that,” Sandlin said. “We had to tear down the buildings and put in the drainage. If we buy the two pieces together, it’s about $7.50 per square foot. This body has already spent about a dollar a square foot more.”
Discussion has also centered on the distance of the East Broad Street property from the Justice Center. Commissioners voted down the purchase of these two properties at the September meeting. Several commissioners expressed concern and confusion about that decision. Following nearly two hours of discussion at a commissioners work session last week, the issue came up again for a vote Monday night.
Commissioner Kevin Christopher said he believes the commission should revisit the discussion to keep the jail and justice center downtown. He said the decision will continue to push issues into the future.
“We still don’t have a gameplan,” Commissioner Kevin Christopher. “We’re setting ourselves up to continue the downtown expansion indefinitely.”
Several local residents spoke during the meeting that the county should focus on more efforts to keep people out of jail versus building new jail space.
