County purchases BLM building for $3 million

As part of a plan to replace the county’s aging courthouse, Tillamook’s board of county commissioners approved the purchase of the Bureau of Land Management building on Third Street in Tillamook for $3 million on July 3.

Following an extensive remodel, the building will serve as the new home of the Tillamook County circuit court and district attorney’s office.

Attempts to replace the current courthouse, built in 1932, have been ongoing since at least 2008, when a statewide study found that it was the fourth worst facility in the state. The county, which is responsible for providing and maintaining a facility for the circuit court and district attorney, came close to constructing a purpose-built facility near the jail on Long Prairie Road in the mid-2010s but failed to secure funding for the project.

Another effort began in 2021, when a three-phase plan envisioning a remodel and expansion of the current courthouse with an annex to house the board of commissioners and other county staff was proposed. The first phase of the project, entailing remodeling and reassignment of courtrooms and the board of commissioners’ meeting room, was completed in 2022, but forward momentum towards the annex stalled thereafter due to a $1 million funding gap.

Early this year when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced plans to build a new office at the Port of Tillamook Bay and the sale of its current building on Third Street. Tillamook County Chief of Staff Rachel Hagerty said that the 13,000-square-foot building is large enough to support all court and district attorney operations and presented the best option to resolve safety issues at the current courthouse.

In January, the county submitted a proposal to the Association of Oregon Counties for the remodel project that estimated a total budget of $12 million. The state government will contribute half of the funding for the project, with the county responsible for the balance, according to Hagerty.

Responsibility for the initial purchase falls to the county, which will be using funding remaining from the American Rescue Plan Act and a bank loan to cover the cost. Once the purchase is complete, the county will be eligible to receive $1 million from the state for planning in 2025, which would allow the county to apply for state funding for construction in 2026, for distribution in the 2027-2029 biennium.

Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar said that the decision to purchase the building and remodel rather than pushing ahead with the construction of an annex at the courthouse had been motivated by several factors. Remodeling an existing structure carries a significantly lower price tag, $700 per square foot versus $1,000, than new construction and by moving court operations to a completely new facility the project will be eligible for more state funding than would one upgrading the current facility.

Skaar said that in considering the approach she and other commissioners had weighed the failures of past attempts and prioritized finding the most cost-effective solution to ensure completion.

Approval of the contract was unanimous and included a deposit of $100,000 in earnest money and a 75-day period to complete due diligence.

Commissioners also heard a presentation from Tillamook County Clerk Christy Nyseth about House Bill 2004, which was passed this year and will ask Oregon voters whether they prefer to employ ranked-choice voting going forward in November.

Ranked-choice voting allows voters to place each candidate in a given election in the order of their preference, with their vote going to their second choice if their first is the lowest vote getter in the first round of counting and no candidate wins a majority.

Oregon’s proposal would apply to federal and statewide offices and allow for cities, counties and special districts to employ the methodology if they desired.

Commissioners also approved a $35,000 contract for a replacement feasibility study for the health department’s HVAC system, which is currently overworked after repeated expansions to the facility have led to a five-heat-pump system which only serves half the building adequately and was seen smoking earlier this year.