New District Court plans coming together

Design for new building puts a new face on Broadway frontage

news@theeveningtimes.com

A place for everything and everything in its place.

West Memphis city leaders met with The P3 Group recently to settle details, including a site relocation to begin constructing four of the five new municipal buildings slated for the city.

The new district court house was moved from the 300 block of East Broadway to the vacant lot between city hall and Avalon Street. The move would save big bucks for the city and utilizes the city owned vacant lot.

“We wanted it on Broadway in that location to eliminate the big eyesore,” said City Treasurer Frank Martin.

The intended location included the blighted Patterson building and came chained to some undesirable conditions. The Library board had rejected the site after the level one environmental study.

The City ordered a level two study after expressing interest in the city for the district courthouse.

“The more we looked into it the more things uncovered,” said Martin. “There was so much hidden stuff we did not now about, so we’ve changed the location for the court.”

Mayor Marco McClendon authorized the site change.

“In doing so we will save our taxpayers $1,200,000,” said Mayor Marco Mc-Clendon.

Dee Brown, President of the P3 Group developing the buildings for the city provided details to city council which added up making the East Broadway location unattainable. The site carried huge liens.

“You are aware of the environmental issues,” said Brown. “Then when we tried for the title commitment and $3,500,000 in liens were on the property from seven different creditors.”

Brown said he gave the owner time to prove the liens could be resolved.

“We never got any type of evidence that he could resolve all those liens,” said Brown. “We thought it in the best interest of the project to move the path rather than have it potentially impact everything else it had going.”

The city owns the land on the new site and will save $420,000 in cash and reducing the monthly payment.

City council reviewed language changes in the ordinance to do project business with P3 Group with the city treasurer and city attorney Mike Stephenson.

Councilmen Tracy Catt, Charles Wheeless and Wayne Croom had several questions on financing.

Brown cleared the air stating local banks would have roles in the details, but Croom and Wheeless expressed discomfort with the all in one development package.

“It’s the fox watching the hen house,” said Croom.

“You won’t know it until you get ate up, “ said Wheeless. “Why don’t you use local banks?”

“We finance in the capital market with larger banks with public finance divisions which finance public debt,” said Brown. “They purchase our paperwork at closing.”

Council members voiced concerns for using local contractors on the city buildings.

“We hosted a sub-contractor fair at the utility department,” answered Brown. “We had them register and we sent them bid packages.”

Brown produced a list of local contractors that had submitted competitive pricing.“They’ll build us a high quality project that the citizens of West Memphis will be proud of,” said Brown.

City council agreed to here the revised proposal on its second and final readings along with an emergency clause during its October 17 meeting. The fire department scheduled its Station 3 groundbreaking for noon on Tuesday, October 15 at South Loop and East Broadway.

None-the-less Councilman Wheeless left the meeting stiff necked.

“I won’t be voting for this in its final form,” said Wheeless. “I don’t like the flat roof designs. People all over the country have trouble with them. I don’t like that lack of local bank financing. Costs run 15 to 25 percent higher on package deals like this than if we’d bid it all out separately with local builders. We are not being good stewards.”