By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
They’ve been working together for some time, but now it’s official: the City of Decatur has an agreement with Adams County government to help find new parking places due to the construction of a county judicial center.
Decatur City Council on Tuesday night approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing the city’s assistance.
The county commissioners approved the MOU earlier in the day.
The agreement sets forth that the the city “will assist by making make available or by working to secure” a minimum of 35 and up to 40 parking spaces for use of the court and related court operations.
The $21 million judicial center will be constructed in the parking lot north of the superior court (old library) building.
That will, of course, wipe out a parking lot which is heavily used by people going to nearby superior court and the courthouse.
While the city agrees to assist in finding new parking places, the MOU states that nothing in the agreement “is intended to obligate the city to purchase real property within the vicinity of the Adams County Courthouse for the purpose of creating new parking for the Adams County Courthouse.”
It says that the spaces shall “be mutually identified by the parties, provided that such parking spaces shall be within walking distance of the Adams County Courthouse and Judicial Center.”
The spaces will be reserved and available for court use Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The MOU states that the city and county “acknowledge that additional details regarding the parking spaces may remain to be determined. The parties agree to work in good faith to negotiate and memorialize any remaining parking specifics in a later written agreement or amendment before completion of the project.”
POSITIVE EFFECT; “This will have a very big effect on the project and we are definitely glad to do it,” Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord said at the council meeting.
County Commissioner Stan Stoppenhagen, who attended the meeting, said, “I think this will be a big positive effect on downtown and I sincerely appreciate your assistance; thanks for all your help.”
“We are very excited to see the project move forward,” City Attorney Anne Razo noted. “If we can help in any way, this MOU should do it.”
City officials had been strongly opposed to having the judicial center built anywhere but downtown.
So when the county announced in July that the judicial center would indeed be constructed downtown, Decatur officials were strongly supportive.
“I think it’s great for our downtown, great for foot traffic,” Mayor Rickord said .
City Councilman Matt Dyer said at the time that all 92 other counties in Indiana have their judicial services in downtown areas
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