The City Council in its role as Redevelopment Agency showed its
displeasure with the county Wednesday night when it challenged the
county
’s moving ahead with schematic drawings – without consulting the
city – for a new courthouse in downtown Morgan Hill.
The City Council in its role as Redevelopment Agency showed its displeasure with the county Wednesday night when it challenged the county’s moving ahead with schematic drawings – without consulting the city – for a new courthouse in downtown Morgan Hill.
Neither city staff nor officials were part of the site planning as was stipulated in the original agreement, according to Mayor Dennis Kennedy. He was backed up by City Attorney Helene Leichter who read from the agreement.
The county is planning to build what has grown to be a $40 million, 80,000 square-foot South County Justice Center on city-owned land on its preferred location of Butterfield Boulevard, just south of the Caltrain parking lot. It is to replace the unusable county facilities in San Martin.
The city’s agreement with the county is for the city to provide the land, now surveyed at 7.78 acres, but for the city to reclaim any part of the site the county does not use.
Alicia Flynn, project manager for the courthouse project took the brunt of the council’s polite but distinct unhappiness and tried to explain that the schematic drawings and the draft Environmental Impact Report had only been received in late January.
“We should be part of the design meetings,” Kennedy said. “Has the schematic design been presented to the city staff?”
“No,” said Flynn.
The council/RDA had planned to locate the new police station and a third fire station on the site but, with the courthouse expanding, only half an acre is left free. Council decided at this same meeting to move the police station elsewhere but is still interested in a fire station on Butterfield.
“This is a major problem,” Kennedy said of the apparent lack of cooperation. “The orientation of the building is ignoring the design needs that we agreed to. I want to address the pedestrian access across the railroad tracks to the downtown.”
“I feel I’ve had the wool pulled over my eyes,” said Councilman Steve Tate. “This should be a partnership.”
