To the editor:

How to pay for courthouse “addition”:

A. Hire a company to install, service and manage parking meters for Nashville.

B. Have company give you a proposal of costs, income and percentage given to Nashville.

C. Charge double for meters around the courthouse — normal meters let’s say would be 50 cents an hour, and near courthouse would be $1 per hour (up to eight hours on meters).

D. Rent parking spaces in new “addition” parking garage. Depending on how large the parking garage is will determine the income, but let’s say there are only 50 spaces: 50 x $450 annual rental = $22,500/year; or 50 x $50 monthly rental = $30,000/year; or 50 x $20 weekly rental = $52,000/year.

Personally, I would start out only offering weekly rentals and see what the demand is. May want to go to $25/week or offer monthly and yearly to firms that have over five renters each. Lots of options.

I know the town may not go for parking meters in Nashville, but I think that parking meters around the courthouse could be approved, at least Monday-Friday and holidays.

I would move the prosecutor into the new addition and build a public parking garage on the property. Charge is $1 per hour or $18 a day. Let’s say there are 200 parking spaces: 200 x 4 hours per day ($4) x 365 days = $292,000/year.

If Nashville doesn’t want to build a parking garage where the prosecutor’s office is, build it on one of the other properties. Take a survey of shop owners. Could hire a parking garage firm (like Denison’s) and have them build it and run it and pay Nashville a percentage. If it were up to me, I’d build an additional parking garage on the south end of town. Nashville won’t know what to do with all its money.

Note: I don’t think that other cities pay for their employees’ parking fees. Get three bids from companies that build parking garages and see if they will give you a discount to include the office additions in their bid. Judge gets to park in the sally port for free!

Whether or not the courthouse has a basement, building two lower levels under the courthouse would be easy, and an underground parking garage could be connected. Offices:

A. Courthouse (first floor): clerk, auditor, recorder, voting office

B. Courthouse (second floor): judge, court, court offices, court library

C. Lower level (top floor): prosecutor, child support, probation, victim advocate

D. Lower level (bottom floor): human resources, health department, Veterans Affairs (or coroner), commissioners

E. County Office Building (first floor): Community Corrections, county council

F. County Office Building (second floor): assessor, surveyor, planning, zoning, mapping

Eliminate the cost of using the existing prosecutor building and the Veterans Hall building.

(Drawings of proposed floor plans included with letter.)

Michael B. Smith, Pendleton Correctional Facility

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