Amador County – Amador County Supervisors discussed county-owned property in Jackson Tuesday, including land and buildings on Court Street between Summit and McDowell streets, and parking lots behind them.

Supervisor Brian Oneto said: “How many buildings does the county need?” He thought the old Courthouse would be torn down or privately sold.

“Access is critical in doing development, always,” Oneto said. Once sold, it would get a little narrow street there. “That’s really the one concern I have with piecemeal-ing the property off.”

County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley said “the issue is maintenance, and with times getting tough, we will be coming to you and asking you to divest. It costs a lot of money to be holding property that one day we intend to sell.”

Iley said: “I think we all know the old Courthouse will not be used again.” General Services Director John Hopkins said it costs $5,000 a year to maintain. Oneto said that keeps it nowhere near operational, and the building is deteriorating.

Supervisor Ted Novelli said: “I think we need a forecast of all our properties, to see which ones we want to get rid of.” He said there were other, Upcountry properties the county owns that are in worse blight than these.

Supervisor Richard Forster said a historical consultant gave lots of advice on the properties, which would cost a lot of money to do, and may not appear to be feasible. In public comment Phillip Giurlani, said the county should try to get organizations involved in remodeling the buildings, so they wouldn’t have the regulations to follow to get the work done.

Gary Reinoehl, speaking as an individual said different ideas for the old Courthouse included some proposals in the $2 million dollar range, including housing, a main County Library, or clearing the site and leasing it. Demolishing it would cost the county, and “it would remove another of our historic buildings.”

Reinoehl commended the county on remodels of Volcano Armory and Pine Grove Town Hall, and urged another. He said: “It disappoints me when I see our history in ashes.”

Forster said: “How many employees is $2 million?” He did not want to see the old Courthouse torn down, but would rather keep employees than fix a building. He said he would like to see it restored to its original state, but didn’t think it was feasible.

Oneto said he loves history, but their job is to maintain services, not to “spend millions of dollars to restore a building that we really don’t have a use for.”

Thornton Consolo said the old Courthouse is an asset for tourism “that should never go away.” He asked Supervisors to hold a public workshop and make sure local groups are aware because “I think there are community organizations willing to get involved.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.