Florence County Council discusses judicial facilities proposals

FLORENCE — Florence County’s proposed options for new judicial facilities range from the current site to the Effingham jail and are projected to cost between $21.8 million and $41 million, Southern Management Group’s Tom Baldwin told council Thursday.

Councilman James Schofield asked the county attorney to determine whether voters’ approval would be needed to move circuit court to the Effingham jail, as one scenario proposes.

“You raised an interesting question tonight,” said Schofield, who said the option was “actually cutting the courthouse in half.”

Moving the courthouse from Florence, the county seat, would require a petition signed by a third of the county’s registered voters and filed with the governor. The county also must hold a vote on moving the courthouse, which requires approval of two-thirds of participating voters.

The county’s courtrooms are currently on the top floors of the 11-floor Florence City-County Complex.

Schofield also questioned why there was consideration of an annex built on the Florence City-County Complex parking lot, but not across South Irby Street on former city property used as additional parking.

In considering a free-standing facility option, Baldwin said he has visited a potential site where a Rose’s Department Store stands at South Irby Street and Pamplico Highway.

Baldwin said the next step is to narrow the options and work with an architect.

Council on Thursday also asked county attorney Jim Rushton to begin legal action against a landowner who has closed a popular landing near Johnsonville.

“I’m not for much government intervention,” councilman Ken Ard said, but “when this many people get wronged,” he feels it’s necessary for council to step in.

Council also gave the county attorney authority to deal with a land issue that stems from an error made years ago in the tax assessor’s office, County Administrator Richard Starks said.

OPTION I: Free-standing facility at new site

• Projected cost: $41 million
• Square footage: 128,997
• Vacated city-county complex space: 46,156 square feet

OPTION II: Annex to city-county complex

• Projected cost: $37.3 million
• Square footage: 80,883
• Vacated city-county complex space: 22,412 square feet

OPTION III: Two Effingham jail courtrooms

• Projected cost: $21.8 million
• Square footage: 61,314
• Vacated city-county complex space: 10,695 square feet

In other business Thursday, council:

• Unanimously approved third and final reading of an ordinance to suspend Sunday work prohibitions for Monster’s future call center in the county.
• Unanimously approved a five-lane shoulder section design for the project scope of widening U.S. 76 between Florence and Timmonsville.
• Unanimously approved final reading of a fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement with General Electric Co., which plans to make hardware for a new magnetic resonance scanner in Florence through upgrades that could be worth more than $10 million.
• Voted unanimously to accept a $25,000 grant from Honda of South Carolina for the construction of Timmonsville’s Baker Memorial Public Library.
• Unanimously approved third and final reading of a rezoning request that would allow a distribution center for OM Ships ministry materials to be shipped worldwide from Community Bible Fellowship, on St. Andrews Road.
• Voted unanimously to accept two Competitive Community Grant Awards from the South Carolina Budget and Control Board: $82,000 for the Florence County Sheriff’s Office to purchase digital recording systems for patrol vehicles, and $20,000 to fund contracts with legal and financial consultants for the Lower Florence County Hospital Board. Council also unanimously approved an additional $40,000 from contingency funds to help the hospital board pay for its ongoing audit.
• Voted unanimously to buy a building at 181 N. Irby St., now used for county storage, for $251,000.