Staff Writer
HOULTON — Aroostook County Commissioners are moving forward with the proposed courthouse consolidation and plans are under way to get the offices consolidated under one roof.
With that in mind, Aroostook County Administrator Doug Beaulieu presented the commissioners with a proposal, which would free up more space in the Superior Courthouse, as well as utilize space in the former Houlton District Court building.
“This courthouse consolidation is a very good thing for the county of Aroostook,” explained Beaulieu. “But it does create some logistical problems, some state issues for us. While we could probably make due with having the sheriff on the first floor, it would mean that we’d have to take a lot of the bathrooms and take them offline and utilize them as office space.
“The fact that we’d have to move that bathroom creates a domino effect,” he said.
That “domino effect” includes having to reroute handicapped washrooms, which means taking more space from areas that would be occupied by the Probate Office, as well as the district attorney. Beaulieu said he came up with a suggestion that could solve those issues.
“In terms of renovations, it might even be cheaper,” he explained. “It would better accommodate all these different staffs from these different offices.”
The solution involves relocating the sheriff’s offices to the former Houlton District Court building. Beaulieu said the location is appropriate and would require little, if any, renovations for Sheriff Jim Madore’s staff.
“So he discussed it with his staff, and it turned out, there’s been a lot of energy and enthusiasm around that and we had a meeting today in regard to it and the staff is so excited about it quite honestly,” explained Beaulieu. “They have taken the initiative to take a blue print and mark it up. There’s a lot of appeal to it.
“In order to do this and do it so it will lessen the financial strain on the county coffers, we really need to incorporate this into the proposed consolidation plan,” added Beaulieu.
Preparations for the District Court renovations have already begun with the second floor of the Superior Court building. A chute extends from the second floor to the ground level, which is being used to dispose of outdated law books. Beaulieu said the court system had instructed the county to clean house.
“They’re getting rid of books that have not been updated for years,” he explained. “They’re useless when they haven’t been updated; that kind of information is now available online. The court system pays for the online updates.”
That room will be utilized as the new family court room.
The county administrator and the county commissioners also discussed the Caribou Court consolidation. Five bids had been received and the commissioners chose to table the approval of the bid until their next meeting, which has been scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in Fort Kent.
