The answer to Coweta County's

$30 million question may come next Tuesday.

The Coweta County Commission is expected to decide on what type of judicial

complex will serve the residents for the next few years.

Officials from the consulting firm of Gardner, Spencer, Smith, Sarden

and Partners told the County Commission last month that a brand new facility

would cost the county nearly $30 million.

If the county chooses to build the facility, its space requirements would

be met until 2010.

Currently, the county uses 55,000 square feet in four build ings

for court business, along with support staff. But according to the consultant's

report, the county will need 143,000 square feet in 2005 and 180,000 square

feet in 2010, based on projections from department heads.

But the biggest issue confronting the county is the lack of handicapped

accessibility.

"We're not studying this because we want to build a monument to this

or any other commission. We're doing it because we have to," said

Commissioner Lawrence Nelms during last month's hearing.

The consulting firm offered the county four options.

First, the county could renovate the existing space at a cost of $4 million.

If the county pursues this option, it will still have the same

limited amount of space and not improve handicapped access, according

to the consultant.

Second, the county could choose to redistribute some of the courts and

support staff into other county facilities at a cost of $8.5 million.

The county would still have the same amount of space and would not be

able to fully address the handicapped access question.

Third, the county could build an annex next to the County Administration

Building at a cost of $19.5 million. This would allow the county to build

up enough extra space to meet its needs through 2005 and address some

of the handicapped access issues.

The final option would be building a brand new facility, complete with

nearly 300 parking spaces. The new facility would be secure and also be

able to handle the growing technology needs of the court system, the consultants

said.

Commission Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter told the consultants

that if the county chooses to build a new facility, constituents have

clamored for it to be kept in downtown Newnan.

The commission is expected to render a decision and possibly suggest a

funding mechanism at Tuesday's 2 p.m. meeting.