Kmart building added to list of courthouse sites

MILTON— A major subject on the agenda of Milton City Council’s April 11 meeting was to vote on which possible future courthouse sites to send to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration.

Councilman Casey Powell explained his motion to take the courthouse's current location off of the list of possibilities.

“We’ve had some feedback from some of the county commissioners since our last meeting and from the public, and I feel like the current location should not be on the list,” Powell said.

Powell’s motion was seconded by Councilman Jeff Snow.

“I don’t see what it’s going to hurt,” Councilwoman Sharon Holley said. “It’s not our decision anyway; it’s going to be up to the Board of County Commissioners…They’re going to make the decision anyway.”

According to Jack Sanborn, a local businessman, 395 people in Santa Rosa County were polled about the courthouse location.

“Roughly 34 percent said that they would like the present courthouse renovated,” Sanborn said. “Another third roughly … said that they would favor a south-end annex.”

Sanborn said he wanted to replace the downtown site with the Kmart building recently put up for sale.

Snow called for Powell to amend his last proposal by adding the Kmart building to the list of sites, in place of the downtown site. Councilwoman Mary Ellen Johnson then amended that by asking to add the Kmart site to the list, still including the downtown option, making it the fourth site.

Johnson’s amendment was seconded by Councilwoman Ashley Lay. The motion was voted on and failed.

Powell’s original motion to remove the downtown location was then amended by Snow to add the Kmart location in its place, and it was seconded by Smith.

The motion passed 5-4, with Meiss as the tiebreaker. 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Kmart building added to list of courthouse sites