June 26, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
After adopting on Monday night a property tax increase of 51 cents and an initial and detailed bond resolution of up to $65 million for construction of a judicial center or jail, the county commission’s next move is to decide which option and where to build it.
For one, Commissioner Andy Pack is ready to move and made a motion during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting to make an offer on the 38-acre Peggy Hayes property near Walmart for the appraised value and to begin imminent domain proceedings if she turns down the county’s offer. Pack said the site is the county’s best option for building a judicial center with 190 inmate beds.
The commission rejected Pack’s motion on an 11 to 3 vote.
The Hayes property, which is currently open farmland once owned by Hayes’ father the late Rex Hayes, is situated in the heart of Smithville in the area off West Broad Street and behind Anthony Avenue, Morgan Drive, and Short Street near the housing projects in the vicinity of Walmart. The county commission first considered the property last fall but couldn’t come to terms with Hayes on the purchase price.
“This property consists of 38.6 acres plus or minus,” said Commissioner Pack. “That (this property) would provide us with (space for) other projects in the future that have been discussed. We have fueling projects (county fueling station) that we could bring in-house to cut out the middleman. We could save all these shop fees on service to our county fleet (vehicles) in the future,” Pack continued.
“In October 2023 we paid $3,500 for a certified real estate appraiser to come in and appraise the (Hayes) property. That appraisal was $1,485,000. I would like to make a motion to start the bid process and construction process of a 190-bed facility on that piece of property and start the purchasing process of that property for the $1,485,000. That is for a 190-bed judicial center on that property. This is centrally located. It’s the best piece of property that would accommodate DeKalb County in lots of different areas not only now but in the future. I think that is the best move at where we are at,” said Commissioner Pack.
Voting in favor in addition to Pack were Commissioners Larry Green and Glynn Merriman. Commissioners opposed were Beth Pafford, Myron Rhody, Mathias Anderson, Daniel Cripps, Susannah Cripps, Tom Chandler, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Greg Matthews, Jeff Barnes, Sabrina Farler, and Tony Luna.
Commissioner Greg Matthews said he would never vote to take someone else’s property by imminent domain.
“I will never vote to take somebody’s property. I think there are other places that have more land not surrounded by a bunch of neighborhoods,” he said.
Commissioner Mathias Anderson said Pack’s motion was premature and other property locations should be considered.
“I feel like essentially voting on an imminent domain is putting us way ahead of ourselves,” said Commissioner Anderson. “I think we need to identify the available options that are in the county and then we need to speak to the city and say these are our options and would you annex this into the city. If they say no, then we will identify options already within the city and go from there. I feel we are putting the cart way ahead of the horse here to say we are only going to look at this one property (Hayes) and then potentially go to the imminent domain process when we have not officially gotten an answer from the people who could say yes or no on annexation,” said Commissioner Anderson.
City officials have signaled an unwillingness to annex any property into the City limits of Smithville if its purpose is for a county jail or judicial center.