A steering committee has recommended Heery International Inc., an architectural firm headquartered in Atlanta, for the design and construction of the courthouse addition, and agreed that the project will need $10-$15 million in additional funding.

But county commissioners say the courthouse steering committee might have gotten a few steps ahead of itself, and asked the panel to return later with more recommendations.

At last night’s board meeting, Chairman Bill Chappell presented the commissioners with a letter from the steering committee recommending Heery, as well as additional funding from the proposed 2008 special purpose local option sales tax.

But the steering committee was charged by Chappell several months ago to pick three architects, as per state guidelines, and submit those three for the Board of Commissioners to choose. The funding request came as somewhat unsolicited advice.

“It would be nice if people could do what they’re asked before they do what they want,” Commissioner Trent North said.

North and the rest of the board agreed to ask the steering committee, which is comprised of courthouse users like Probate Judge Betty Cason and Sheriff Terry Langley, to come back with three recommendations at a later date.

Langley said he looked forward to doing so, but said he thought the committee made the architect recommendation and funding request out of frustration.

“Year after year the Board of Commissioners has not taken into consideration the poor condition of the courthouse,” Langley said. “That situation needs to be taken care of, because for many years now we have had an inadequate courthouse facility, and it has been given a Band-Aid approach.

“I think the committee is frustrated because they don’t believe the Board of Commissioners has taken seriously the needs of the employees who use that facility. ... It’s just not right.”

Earlier in the night, the board heard more details from Langley about the arrival of a large, anti-narcotics task force to be headquartered in Carrollton.

The board voted unanimously to express their agreement with the proposal, which would place more than 30 agents, including those from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, in the old Martin & Hightower funeral home in downtown Carrollton.

The city of Carrollton has already agreed to pay $200,000 to help purchase the property, and last night the board agreed in principle to match.

Board members said they were excited about the proposal, which would actually house three separate, though coordinating, task forces: an existing task force for Carroll, Meriwether and Heard counties, one for a 22-county district surrounding Atlanta, and a statewide task force, in addition to liaisons from other agencies.

“We took a big step last night,” Langley said. “We’re very excited about it. It’s really going to enhance what we’re already doing with drug enforcement.”

Chris Hosey, commander of the West Georgia Drug Task Force, said the headquarters would function as an “undercover school,” in which every graduate from the GBI’s academy would have to train.

Hosey said the headquarters would be run with seized drug money and assets, as well as any state or federal grants they could obtain.

The board will revisit one issue in the future - whether to make the county’s health care funds “restricted,” meaning the board couldn’t use those funds for other purposes if they wanted. The county already has certain restricted funds, such as those for worker’s compensation.

Two meetings ago North asked the board to restrict those funds, and last night Commissioner Herman Ayers asked again.

Ayers and North said the board intended to restrict the funds when they raised property taxes last year to help provide emergency funding for health care, which the county at the time did not have enough of.

“We bit the bullet and fully funded the thing. ... But when we did it, we thought it ought to be restricted,” Ayers said.

Chappell continued to voice his disagreement, saying the county would be “shooting itself in the foot” if it did so.

“I’d like to totally agree with Mr. Ayers, but as long as it (health care) is funded, there’s no need to encumber the board’s cash-flow decisions,” Chappell said.

The board also decided to come back to a debate about whether Chappell should enforce a sign ordinance that he called unconstitutional.

“I’m just naive,” North said, directing his comments at past administrators. “I thought that once you had a law, you followed it. I didn’t realize you could pick and choose which laws you followed.”

In other business, the board approved several land permits for foster care home, approval and approved the creation of the Carroll County Agricultural Preservation Advisory Committee, which had previously been the subject of some discussion because two active political candidates are included in its membership.