Madison County supervisors voted 3-2 to move forward with the purchase of the Community Trust Bank building at 171 Cobblestone Drive in Madison as a courthouse annex.
District 1 Supervisor John Bell Crosby has pushed for the purchase since November, when Tax Assessor Kay Pace and Tax Assessor Gerald Barber approached the board asking for a bigger office than the current Ridgeland location.
Supervisors had initially voted 3-2 against the purchase of the bank building, with District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin changing his vote in favor of the land deal to join Crosby and Karl Banks. Supervisors Gerald Steen and Ronny Lott voted against.
The bank building has an appraisal value of $2.3 million, but it is only listed on the county tax roll at $1.4 million. The appraisal includes $800,000 for 2.3 acres of land and nearly $180 per square foot of office space.
The 10-year old structure has sat dormant for nearly two years. Prior to this proposal, officials had begun looking into building a brand new facility that could meet the needs of other county offices that could cost between $2-3 million.
Officials have asked for a newer building due to parking space and office restrictions at the Ridgeland location.
The Community Trust Bank building sits on 2.3 acres but has the same amount of parking spaces, one thing that Lott addressed.
“It’s the exact same amount of parking spaces at both buildings,” he said. “There’s actually less offices in this building then there are in Ridgeland. I’d like to see these matters addressed.”
Barber said that’s an easy fix though and for less than $2,000 they can re-paint and better utilize the asphalt lot. Barber also said that office space could be better utilized with partitions.
Despite the bank building having more square footage, a bulk of that space is from the two-story foyer.
“This is designed for the general public to have a gathering area where it’s not crowded,” Barber explained. “We’ve got a lot more common space.”
He also said the proposed building is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, whereas the current location is not.
