A pipe burst Labor Day weekend, causing extensive damage. It took just about six months, but the plumbing and the damages have been fixed. The building is open again after months and months of removing everything that was damaged by the water.
Right before the ribbon cutting Monday afternoon, Genesee County Commissioner Patrick Gleason said the restoration was fast-tracked following the Labor Day weekend flood.
Jamie Curtis is the chairman of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners. "What you don't see is that we have an almost $10 million energy conservation going on. We're putting a new roof on this, new HVAC. I mean, this is a total, complete makeover. This is a brand-new building for the most part."
Today, 67th District Court was back in session on its side of the building after spending nearly six months at satellite locations.
"It's been challenging. We've been able to do it," 67th District Court Judge Mark McCabe said. "We've obviously had to make some significant modifications to our schedules and dockets, but we've done it. But nonetheless, we're glad to be back."
68th District Court is not back in the building. There is still no lease and now there is no security from the sheriff's department.
Flint's mayor says negotiations hit a big snag last week when the county asked for more than $200,000 more for court security from the sheriff's department.
68th District Court Judge M Cathy Dowd says she didn't know anything was going to happen, and when she got to work Monday morning, the county was removing the tables and the lockers and no security.
"We had about 20 people here," she said.
"It's business, and at this point, the County Board of Commissioners has a responsibility to be good stewards of the money and to enter into agreements that pay for services that other people are using," said the Genesee County Sheriff's Department's Capt. Chris Swanson.
The sheriff's department says under the now-expired lease for space in the McCree Building, the city was paying far less for security than they were actually using the space.
"It was at the direction of the county that the sheriff pull the staff and pull the equipment that the county owns," Swanson said.
"The city of Flint would have to come up with an additional $211,000," said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling. "That's not feasible with the city's budget, so as of this morning, the city of Flint's police department is providing the security for the 68th District Court."
Police Chief Alvern Lock says five laid-off officers have been brought back for security at courts at both city hall and the Great Lakes Tech Center.
Walling says this arrangement could last for a long time. Flint is using 68th District Court funds already in its budget to provide the staff.
