Joint court project will go on despite cost

CLAYTON — The village and town decided to "bite the bullet" and borrow money to complete the $300,000 joint justice court project.

The municipalities initially hoped to spend only about $100,000 on the project, but the bids came in much higher. The lowest bid, $247,000, was from general contractor DEW Builders of Adams.

Mayor Norma J. Zimmer said village officials decided to include the optional $50,000 roof replacement in the overall project and bonded $300,000 for the renovations Nov. 9. The project's cost will be divided evenly between the town and the village.

The plan is to convert the former fire hall attached to the municipal building on Mary Street into a new justice court.

The renovations should take about three months to complete and the village hopes to break ground on the project in three weeks, Ms. Zimmer said.

The town hired Bernier, Carr & Associates, Watertown, to design and oversee the project.

Government officials also considered removing low-priority items from the project. However, after several discussions, they determined that the overall construction cost would be much higher if the projects are done separately in the future.

"It's not getting any cheaper," town Councilman George E. Kittle said. "We have to bite the bullet and do the job."

A temporary justice court has been housed in the village's community room for more than four years, Ms. Zimmer said.

The town and village initially wished to tie the justice court work into their $1.5 million joint municipal building expansion project. However, that project was put on hold last November after bids came in at about $1.9 million.

The town and village each budgeted $30,000 for the justice court project. The municipalities also secured two $30,000 grants and a $5,395 grant from the state's Justice Court Assistance Program.