By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Amid the clamor of heated discussion over the future of Fayette County's jail and courthouse, a local developer quietly made county officials an offer that some concerned citizens say shouldn't be refused.

But county commissioners say the offer still doesn't present a compelling reason why they should change course and move the complex away from downtown Fayetteville.

Brent Scarbrough said he offered commissioners up to 560 acres of the well-known Signa property off Ga. Highway 54 west for $10 million. The property lies on Lester Road to the south of the highway.

That's a prohibitive price, according to Commissioner Greg Dunn, but Scarbrough said there are a lot of pluses in the deal.

“I could put 400 homes on that land,” Scarbrough said. “They would be taking that out of development, and keeping [hundreds of] new students out of the school system. That's a big cost savings you don't think about,” he said.

The county could plop the jail complex down in the middle of the acreage, and use the rest for parks or other county buildings, he suggested.

He is sure the city of Fayetteville could be persuaded to annex the land and provide sewer to the complex, Scarbrough said.

If money is a problem, Scarbrough added, he would be willing to talk about a land swap, exchanging comparable acreage for all or part of the county's 65-acre site on Johnson Avenue between Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard and Lee Street. He would develop the downtown property under its current zoning, which would allow townhouses, he said.

“We would be taking the nuisance to those people,” said Commissioner Linda Wells in response. The area is surrounded by subdivisions, she said. So is the current site, but the majority of the residents moved there after the current jail and courthouse were already in place, and that makes a difference, said Wells.

Besides, said Commissioner Greg Dunn, time is short for Fayette to move toward relieving overcrowded conditions at the current jail before federal courts step in and take over those decisions.

“It will take three years [to build the jail] if we start tomorrow,” said Dunn.

If the county changes direction and begins a lengthy study of the Scarbrough proposals, added Wells, “We're just postponing this process even further.”

Opponents of the current jail site argued passionately during a Jan. 6 public hearing that the county should undertake a study of alternative sites like the one proposed by Scarbrough, but commissioners told The Citizen last week that their minds are pretty much made up that the current site is the right one.

They plan to vote on the site Jan. 27, 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex.