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.

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