NORWICH - Chenango County lawmakers are seeking an appraisal of the former Morrisville State College building on 16 S. Broad St. in downtown Norwich to determine whether it might be purchased to accommodate the Sixth Judicial District of the New York Unified Court System.
The 36,000-square-foot, three-story office building has been mostly vacant since the college moved to its present campus at the Eaton Center six years ago. Norwich Mayor Joe Maiurano said he has taken five or six real estate developers to see the building in the recent past, and estimated its price to be about $960,000. It is owned by Ellahi Hafiz of Waverly.
The building’s possible purchase was the topic of a 30-minute executive session of the county board on Monday. Afterward, a motion was made and seconded to spend up to $5,000 from contingency to pursue an appraisal.
Counties have been required to provide chambers, courtrooms and meeting rooms for the state’s courts since the creation of the Unified Court System in 1977. Sixth Judicial District administrators have requested more space in Chenango County for several years, and delivered the latest draft floor plan suggestions of the third floor of the County Office Building (COB) back in 2008. Recent renovations and office switches within the county’s headquarters on Court Street in the City of Norwich have increased the courts square footage from 4,394 to 7,000 square feet.
But it’s still not enough, according to state guidelines. Last month, Hon. Robert C. Mulvey, Sixth District administrative judge, asked members of the Agriculture, Buildings and Grounds Committee for a timeline and commitment for granting additional room. He supported his request by highlighting what he said was “a staggering number” of cases demanding trial in Chenango County’s county, family and surrogate courts as well as a lack of sufficient security at the county office building.
Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, who was appointed chair last year, said he was committed to solving the space issue. He said the county and the courts had worked well together in the past, but he was ever mindful of what taxpayers can afford.
