Dufferin County councillors are poised to approve a $10- million extension to the west side, more or less, of the 1973 addition to the county courthouse.

The extension would house the mandated Provincial Offences Act courtrooms, the essential secure sally port for the transfer of prisoners, and 25,000 square feet of county administration offices.

Long-term financing of the addition would be partially offset by rental of the present courthouse in its entirety to the Ministry of the Attorney General, according to a report prepared by CAO Linda Dean.

The accommodation discussion at tonight's county council session is based on an October notice of motion introduced by Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams. Partly because of the weighted vote, it is expected that the motion will pass easily, provided that Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock is in attendance.

If approved, the motion would bring to fruition several years of exploring various options for county administration space.

Those options included a proposal for a move to countyowned property at the works yard at Primrose among other locations.

One of the problems with that was a long-standing county commitment to have its administration offices in the Orangeville area.

More recently, the Attorney General's ministry is said to have made overtures for more space within the courthouse, as well as serving notice that the practise of sharing a courtroom with the council would be coming shortly to an end.

In the same time frame, the county was served notice that it must provide separate Provincial Offences Act facilities as well as a secure port (sally port) for the safe transfer of prisoners.

When the county moved to meet the POA requirements plus the port by extending the existing courthouse, it seemed logical to extend the construction an additional 25,000 square feet for the county's administrative needs. If this is done, the Community Services department would remain at its present Broadway location. The move of the other departments to the new 25,000 square feet would free up the rest of the courthouse for rental to the AG.

Ms. Dean said in an interview that space negotiations have yet to be undertaken with the AG. She said it isn't know at this point whether the AG would undertake to modify the courthouse for its own use, or whether the county would renovate to specifications.

In her report to the council tonight, Ms. Dean will say that the space requirement is based on 350 square feet per person, resulting in a need for 22,400 square feet exclusive of the council's requirements.

The 2,600 square feet would be to accommodate council chambers plus such as a kitchenette and garbage recycling area. The dedicated council chamber would provide an opportunity to lease the space to other functions as an added source of revenue.

In her report, Ms. Dean cites economy of scale for the combined construction of POA and county requirements along with several advantages of having the various departments more or less together under a single roof.

"Not only will it eliminate the adjacency issues among staff but also alleviate the confusion often experienced by visitors to the county offices."