Carroll County Judge Ronda Griffin said Monday morning that she sees a path forward for the county to purchase the former AP&L building in Berryville, with a couple of caveats, but the plan might have run into a snag later that day.

With three members absent from a special called meeting where Griffin asked justices of the peace to appropriate $10,000 in earnest money to continue looking into the possible purchase, a 5-3 vote left some uncertainty among county officials who were unsure whether approval required a majority of the JPs present or a majority of the entire 11-member quorum court.

Justices Duane Coatney, Kellie Matt and Don McNeely voted against the appropriation. Justices Jack Deaton, Roger Hall and Larry Swofford were absent.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Steve Simmons said he would need to research the issue before advising the quorum court whether the five votes in favor of the appropriation were enough for approval.

Paying the earnest money would allow the county to have the building inspected and Simmons said that the county would have 30 days to do so and have the earnest money returned if county officials were dissatisfied with the results of the inspection.

Griffin said Monday morning that the county also will have to make certain that the warranty on a new roof on the building can be transferred to the county.

Griffin signed a non-binding letter of intent Sept. 9 to purchase the building, located at 613 S. Main St. in Berryville, for $429,500. The letter gave Griffin 30 days to finalize the purchase, and she told the quorum court at its regular meeting on Sept. 19 that she was still considering whether to buy the building.

“The inspection falls under due diligence of the purchase and sale agreement,” Griffin said Monday. “I can’t get it inspected until I pay the earnest money. That falls under due diligence. I feel like the only way to make sure that we’re on the right path is to continue with the inspection.”

Griffin said the majority of JPs had indicated they believe the building would be a good investment for the county.

“And I’m just kind of going with their wishes on that,” she said. “And we’re moving forward and we’ll see what comes with the inspection and the roofing issue and go from there.”

Griffin, who was appointed in January to finish Sam Barr’s term as county judge after Barr’s retirement, had expressed some reluctance to make a major purchase before leaving office on Dec. 31. But on Monday, she said the county could potentially get good use out of the building, whose purchase price of $429,500 works out to an average of approximately $73 per square foot.

“It would be a great place to keep the election equipment,” Griffin said. “The multipurpose room, we could hold all kinds of meetings out there because we do not have a meeting place now. We don’t have a place to hold budget committee meetings. We don’t have a place to hold emergency preparedness meetings. We just don’t have a meeting room. So that would be beneficial. I would like to possibly look into emergency management services out there and veterans services out there. We really need an ADA-accessible building for our veterans, and that building, all it needs is a little bit of a ramp on the sidewalk, and I think it could be used for veterans.”

Griffin said she doesn’t want any of the county’s elected officials to be housed in the building. At the Sept. 19 quorum court meeting she said she doesn’t want to create an inconvenience for citizens who are used to being able to conduct business with the county at a central location.

“It will not be used to place a county official in it,” Griffin said Monday. “I don’t want to see any of our elected officials moved out there, because I think they all need to stay right here.”

Carroll County Clerk Connie Doss said at the Sept. 19 quorum court meeting that the county could indirectly use federal pandemic relief funds to pay for the building. That money would be used to reimburse the county for employee salaries, thus freeing up money in the county’s general fund to purchase the building.

The county could also save the money it is currently spending to rent storage space for the election equipment.