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State slams county over courthouse accessibility
By Andrew Amelinckx and Francesca Olsen
HUDSON - Twenty years after New York State required municipalities to come up with a plan for modernizing their court buildings and 19 years after the federal government enacted the Americans With Disabilities Act, the state is putting its foot down in regard to the Columbia County Courthouse in Hudson.
“The state passed a law in 1987,” said Judge George Cerisia, the chief administrative judge for the Third Judicial District. “All municipalities had to come up with a plan...and follow through.”
Cerisia oversees 10 counties, including Columbia County. He spoke with county officials recently about the building’s lack of handicap accessibility and the county’s apparent foot dragging among other issues.
“For whatever reason it wasn’t done in Columbia County,” he said, but that since 2004, when he was appointed to the position, the county had been working on a plan. The plan was presented to the state in 2005 and apparently didn’t pass muster for not addressing all the buildings issues.
A meeting was held June 16 at 401 State Street between Cerisia and Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer; supervisors Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook; Phil Williams D-Livingston; Roy Brown, R,C,I- Germantown; DPW head David Robinson; and County Judges Paul Czajka and Jonathan Nichols, among others. The result was that Cerisia explained to the officials that there was a sanctions process in place that allows for state to step in, do the needed renovations, with the money coming from all the state aid the county receives. It would be held until the bill was paid.
“No one has ever done it,” said Cerisia, adding that at this point he had no plans to be the first.
He believed that the county government was “very receptive” to getting the renovations moving ahead.
“This is not a political issue, its a governmental issue,” he emphasized.
Two recent incidents seem to have contributed to the court’s actions. During the murder retrial of Warren Powell, held in the courthouse in April, a reporter from a Capitol Region news organization, who is physically disabled, was forced to crawl up the main stairway of the courthouse in order to report on the case.
When Nichols, who was presiding, found out what happened, he moved the trial to the first floor.
Similarly, on June 15 Judge Czajka moved a case into 325 Columbia St., the county Health and Human Services Building, for the day due to a similar issue.
Under the ADA’s Title II section, discrimination by all public entities at the local and state level is prohibited and includes a lack of physical access within its guidelines.
Cerisia said he was aware of both cases and that getting the courthouse complaint with the ADA was the primary goal, but certainly not the only one.
“There are a whole lot of things,” he said. The courthouse was built over 100 years ago...courts have changed since then...It’s just not sufficient anymore.”
He listed a number of areas that the courts oversee that they didn’t in 1907 when the courthouse was built, including Drug Court, Integrated Domestic Violence Court and Family Court, plus, he said, the court’s case load is greater than it once was.
Security is another issue the judge is concerned with.
“Security is a much different issue than it was 100 years ago,” he said.
“First and foremost, we’ll be making the courthouse accessible” to those with disabilities, said Robinson. He said no additional renovations were needed in the existing building. “The Unified Court System believes that additional space is needed for them to perform their function,” he said, adding that this was “beyond and above” what is needed to make the building ADA compliant.
The courthouse needs a handicap entrance, an elevator and accessible bathrooms, according to Robinson. “It has a lifting mechanism for wheelchairs,” he said, “but it operates in a haphazard manner.”
“Looking at 2005, the first approach that the county had for building an addition on the courthouse was that the office space in that addition would be used to satisfy the needs of the Columbia County District Attorney,” said Robinson. Then, he said, the UCS “felt instead that they needed space and that their space needs should be addressed before any other uses were being considered for that addition. With that, we needed to shift gears and remove the DA from being part of that project, and focus that project solely on space for the Unified Court System.”
Baer agreed that courthouse renovations needed to be done. “It’s been years since the project started. The idea of doing the renovation goes back maybe ten years,” he said.
According to Baer, plans do exist for the renovations. “We have the design for it in our hands and we have a plan to get that done,” he said.
“We are committed to doing the renovation as quickly as possible,” said Baer, who added that the cost of modifying the courthouse only would cost approximately $1.8 million. Complete renovations would cost between $4 and $6 million.
If the entire courthouse is renovated, court must still be held. Baer said the county would consider moving court to another building temporarily during construction, or holding court during construction off-hours. If court was moved, the county would have to find a suitable building and modify it for court use.
“I’m not ruling out right now that the courts can’t stay at that courthouse during construction,” said Robinson. “It would save the taxpayers of Columbia County a significant amount of money if we did not have to relocate the courts during the project.”
Baer is meeting with the non-judicial district executive Carol Schongar next week to finalize plans. “We have to make sure we’re all in agreement as to the final plans,” he said. Architects have drawn plans for the building and Baer said the county will go out to bid “immediately” for funding to make the building ADA compliant once plans are finalized.
“Hopefully, shortly thereafter or at the same time, we will proceed with the complete project,” he said.
Robinson said he’s not sure how long renovations would take, but is anticipating the construction could start as soon as February 2010 if the county “shows due diligence in reviewing the plans and consideration of the project needs.” The county hired Lothrop Associates, from Valhalla, New York, to design the renovations. “They really came up with some fabulous ideas that allow the county to remain sensitive to the period of the building, and at the same time, bring it into compliance with all ADA requirements,” he said.
Baer said the county plans to obtain funding for this project as part of a larger bond which combines other projects, including renovations to the former Ockawamick School, which is proposed as the new headquarters of the county Department of Social Services. The bond would be for around $20 million.
Money is already set aside for renovating the courthouse, about $2.2 million. “We’re not going to need that money because we’ve got the DA relocated. That money can be used to reduce the amount of money we need to bond for,” said Baer.
Cerisia understands that the economic situation wasn’t the best right now, but, he said, the county has had more than 20 years to implement the changes.
“Its 2009,” he said. “The law was passed in 1987.”
The Judge believes that the county will be able to come up with a plan that will satisfy the needs of all concerned.
“It can be a beautiful court building,” he said.
“The state passed a law in 1987,” said Judge George Cerisia, the chief administrative judge for the Third Judicial District. “All municipalities had to come up with a plan...and follow through.”
Cerisia oversees 10 counties, including Columbia County. He spoke with county officials recently about the building’s lack of handicap accessibility and the county’s apparent foot dragging among other issues.
“For whatever reason it wasn’t done in Columbia County,” he said, but that since 2004, when he was appointed to the position, the county had been working on a plan. The plan was presented to the state in 2005 and apparently didn’t pass muster for not addressing all the buildings issues.
A meeting was held June 16 at 401 State Street between Cerisia and Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer; supervisors Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook; Phil Williams D-Livingston; Roy Brown, R,C,I- Germantown; DPW head David Robinson; and County Judges Paul Czajka and Jonathan Nichols, among others. The result was that Cerisia explained to the officials that there was a sanctions process in place that allows for state to step in, do the needed renovations, with the money coming from all the state aid the county receives. It would be held until the bill was paid.
“No one has ever done it,” said Cerisia, adding that at this point he had no plans to be the first.
He believed that the county government was “very receptive” to getting the renovations moving ahead.
“This is not a political issue, its a governmental issue,” he emphasized.
Two recent incidents seem to have contributed to the court’s actions. During the murder retrial of Warren Powell, held in the courthouse in April, a reporter from a Capitol Region news organization, who is physically disabled, was forced to crawl up the main stairway of the courthouse in order to report on the case.
When Nichols, who was presiding, found out what happened, he moved the trial to the first floor.
Similarly, on June 15 Judge Czajka moved a case into 325 Columbia St., the county Health and Human Services Building, for the day due to a similar issue.
Under the ADA’s Title II section, discrimination by all public entities at the local and state level is prohibited and includes a lack of physical access within its guidelines.
Cerisia said he was aware of both cases and that getting the courthouse complaint with the ADA was the primary goal, but certainly not the only one.
“There are a whole lot of things,” he said. The courthouse was built over 100 years ago...courts have changed since then...It’s just not sufficient anymore.”
He listed a number of areas that the courts oversee that they didn’t in 1907 when the courthouse was built, including Drug Court, Integrated Domestic Violence Court and Family Court, plus, he said, the court’s case load is greater than it once was.
Security is another issue the judge is concerned with.
“Security is a much different issue than it was 100 years ago,” he said.
“First and foremost, we’ll be making the courthouse accessible” to those with disabilities, said Robinson. He said no additional renovations were needed in the existing building. “The Unified Court System believes that additional space is needed for them to perform their function,” he said, adding that this was “beyond and above” what is needed to make the building ADA compliant.
The courthouse needs a handicap entrance, an elevator and accessible bathrooms, according to Robinson. “It has a lifting mechanism for wheelchairs,” he said, “but it operates in a haphazard manner.”
“Looking at 2005, the first approach that the county had for building an addition on the courthouse was that the office space in that addition would be used to satisfy the needs of the Columbia County District Attorney,” said Robinson. Then, he said, the UCS “felt instead that they needed space and that their space needs should be addressed before any other uses were being considered for that addition. With that, we needed to shift gears and remove the DA from being part of that project, and focus that project solely on space for the Unified Court System.”
Baer agreed that courthouse renovations needed to be done. “It’s been years since the project started. The idea of doing the renovation goes back maybe ten years,” he said.
According to Baer, plans do exist for the renovations. “We have the design for it in our hands and we have a plan to get that done,” he said.
“We are committed to doing the renovation as quickly as possible,” said Baer, who added that the cost of modifying the courthouse only would cost approximately $1.8 million. Complete renovations would cost between $4 and $6 million.
If the entire courthouse is renovated, court must still be held. Baer said the county would consider moving court to another building temporarily during construction, or holding court during construction off-hours. If court was moved, the county would have to find a suitable building and modify it for court use.
“I’m not ruling out right now that the courts can’t stay at that courthouse during construction,” said Robinson. “It would save the taxpayers of Columbia County a significant amount of money if we did not have to relocate the courts during the project.”
Baer is meeting with the non-judicial district executive Carol Schongar next week to finalize plans. “We have to make sure we’re all in agreement as to the final plans,” he said. Architects have drawn plans for the building and Baer said the county will go out to bid “immediately” for funding to make the building ADA compliant once plans are finalized.
“Hopefully, shortly thereafter or at the same time, we will proceed with the complete project,” he said.
Robinson said he’s not sure how long renovations would take, but is anticipating the construction could start as soon as February 2010 if the county “shows due diligence in reviewing the plans and consideration of the project needs.” The county hired Lothrop Associates, from Valhalla, New York, to design the renovations. “They really came up with some fabulous ideas that allow the county to remain sensitive to the period of the building, and at the same time, bring it into compliance with all ADA requirements,” he said.
Baer said the county plans to obtain funding for this project as part of a larger bond which combines other projects, including renovations to the former Ockawamick School, which is proposed as the new headquarters of the county Department of Social Services. The bond would be for around $20 million.
Money is already set aside for renovating the courthouse, about $2.2 million. “We’re not going to need that money because we’ve got the DA relocated. That money can be used to reduce the amount of money we need to bond for,” said Baer.
Cerisia understands that the economic situation wasn’t the best right now, but, he said, the county has had more than 20 years to implement the changes.
“Its 2009,” he said. “The law was passed in 1987.”
The Judge believes that the county will be able to come up with a plan that will satisfy the needs of all concerned.
“It can be a beautiful court building,” he said.
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