The Clinton County Judicial Center Project Development Board (PDB) held its regular meeting last Friday morning, November 18. Just enough board members (four) were present for a quorum.

The board first approved minutes of their previous meeting and on a motion by Mike Lawson, voted unanimously to approve a disbursement request in the amount of $2,800.

Also on separate motions by Lawson, the board voted 4-0 to move forward with Phase II of the environmental tests and accepted the proposal made by Lynn Imaging related to the Judicial Center project.

During the session, the board voted to hold a special called meeting for next Thursday, December 1, at 3 p.m.

The special meeting was noted to be for the purpose of discussing the orientation of the building.

Demolition of existing buildings, such as the old Ferguson Brothers Hardware, McWhorter Implement, and the TAG Thrift & Gift shop and long-time business, McWhorter’s Variety Store, is scheduled to begin in January of 2023.

The estimated time for the demolition process is only several weeks, depending on weather and other factors.

However, total completion of the Justice Center facility, including the demolition and other aspects of the project, is likely to take up to a couple of years.

The Project Development Board’s next regular meeting will be Friday, December 16 at 8 a.m. That meeting, as well as the called meeting next Thursday, will each be held in the upstairs courtroom of the courthouse and both are open to the public.