Russ Oechsle from Unified Court Systems and Amy Daley of JCM Architectural Associates present preliminary floor plans for the “Oneida Justice Center,” formerly Herb Philipson’s across from City Hall.
The building will house the police department and the court systems, a change from the original plan for the building to be home to the courts and city offices.
After reviewing the options, Daley and Oechsle, along with Mayor Peter Hedglon and Sue Weaver, engineer from Barton & Loguidice decided that the courts would better meet the state guidelines if the police department were connected.
According to Hedglon, this was not originally an option as the city did not think the police department would have adequate space in the new building. After further review of the plans and consultation with the city court department and the police department, with the additional storage in the basement of the building, the police would fit, he said.
Oechsle opened the presentation by explaining the state guidelines regarding court systems, the motivation for the purchase of the building and a controversial topic among community members.
“They are guidelines. They are not hard and fast,” Oechsle said. “I received some phone calls [from Oneida residents] wanting a hard and fast ultimatum. The answer I gave was probably unsatisfying. That’s not how we operate. But, there is a mandate and the city has not been meeting that mandate.”
According to Oechsle most of the court-side costs of the project (7,000 square feet out of a total of 15,000 square feet) will be reimbursed by the state. The only significant portion not reimbursed at 100 percent is any HVAC or exterior work, which will be reimbursed at 25 percent. None of the police department side will be reimbursable.
Major features include a 1,300 square foot courtroom that seats 80 and a secure holding area that connects the police departments with the courtroom and features a secure attorney-client conference area.
Oeschle estimated the cost of the entire project would fall between $1.5 and 2 million. He said that the court will not be an extravagant project with gold accents or marble flooring.
“This isn’t going to end up looking like the Madison County Courthouse,” he said. “If you want to see how people used to build courthouses, go over there.”
The police department side of the project includes a garage addition that will house all five patrol cars. The addition will be located on the Oneida Street side, or the east side of the former Philipson’s parking lot.
Police Chief Dave Meeker said that the garage is necessary because the garage they currently occupy can only house one car at a time.
“It’s dangerous if the police officers have to take the time to scrape off their windows before responding to an emergency call,” Meeker said.
Councilor Max Smith asked if the police vehicles had ever been vandalized and Meeker said it has happened “two or three times.”
The floor plan stage of planning is 90 percent done, according to Daley and once the initial design is approved by all affected departments, detailed blueprints and site plans will be developed.
