By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
While Iíve only been working for the Argus for 14 weeks (whoís counting when youíre having fun), I feel I am beginning to get a pretty good feel for the Caledonia City Council. Sitting through seven (or is it eight) council meetings that have ranged from a "short" two hours to a "marathon" four-hour affair one night, one has the opportunity to get to know those five persons representing this community.

On Wednesday, July 11 those five individuals were faced with a somewhat daunting task. They were asked to hold a public hearing on four variance and two street vacation requests made by Houston County for the criminal justice center (CJC), which the county is proposing to locate in downtown Caledonia.

The current county jail is 132 years old. It was built just 10 years after President Lincoln was assassinated, and is the oldest county jail in the state still being used. I really doubt if there are more than a handful of people living in Houston County who wouldnít agree the county needs a new jail. The big stumbling blocks have been size and location.

It was quite obvious the vast majority of the approximately 150 persons who turned out for the July 11 public hearing were against the current CJC plans. Those who testified felt an 82,000 square foot, three story facility should not be located just south of the existing court house. They voiced concern about parking and traffic issues, and also about a 42-cell county jail being located less than a block from St. Maryís Parochial School.

The July 11 public hearing was called to hear testimony about the variance and street vacation requests only, and not about the cost of the CJC, why another building site wasnít being considered, or other issues that have surfaced recently. Mayor Mike Morey explained this at the beginning of the hearing, and thankfully, most people abided by this request.

As I listened to more than 150 minutes of testimony (experiencing writerís cramp several times trying to keep up with all of the comments) the Biblical story of King Solomon came to mind. On the one hand, the councilmembers realize how important it is to keep as many storefronts open in the downtown sector of town as possible. The CJC would bring more business to downtown merchants and the construction of a public building of that size might possibly spawn other new developments or restoration projects. Letís face it, over the past decade a significant number of businesses have moved out of the downtown sector and relocated along the highway business corridor.

But on the other hand the vast majority of those attending the meeting voiced strong opposition to a facility of this size built next to the existing court house.

Having covered city government for over 25 years, I have sat through countless public hearings on variance requests. The criteria used to determine if a request to circumvent existing zoning ordinances should be approved or denied are:

ïif approving the change would affect neighboring property owners adversely, and

ïif the denial of the request would create a hardship on the party making the request.

Those are the two criteria the Caledonia City Council must consider.

Approving a 60-day extension on the countyís requests was an appropriate move on the cityís part. The city had requested a traffic study conducted this past spring before school was recessed for the summer. That didnít happen. The council feels the traffic study will provide pertinent information when considering several of the variance requests. A traffic study has been scheduled when school resumes.

Mayor Morey showed true leadership when he told the crowd, "the city council is here to represent the residents of Caledonia. We wonít be making any decisions on these variance requests until a traffic study is completed. If you have concerns or wish to comment on the proposed project, please talk to one of us. Thatís what we are here for."

The 60-day extension gives the city council additional time to review the countyís plans, all the testimony presented at the public hearing, and digest all of the public input Iím sure they will be receiving during the next two months.

The city council has a very important issue in front of them. Approving or denying the countyís requests will shape the future of downtown Caledonia.

May you have the wisdom of King Solomon!

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