An expansion to the Nye County Courthouse to accommodate a second justice of the peace and a second district courtroom probably won't be complete until at least May 2009, county commissioners were told recently.

They also commissioned a report to decide whether it would be cheaper to demolish the existing Calvada Eye building and construct another building to house the county meeting room and administrative offices.

Thirteen candidates have filed for the new Department 2 justice of the peace position.

One of the J.P. candidates has talked about holding night court in the beginning, using Judge Tina Brisebill's court until a second courtroom is ready. The new J.P. will take office in January 2009.

* County commissioners voted 3-0 Monday to request qualifications from firms interested in designing and building the courthouse addition. Commissioners Peter Liakopoulos and Gary Hollis were absent.

"All you're doing at this point is picking the best firm and which one has the best idea for a project," County Manager Ron Williams said.

Nye County Commissioner Roberta "Midge" Carver quipped, "We don't need Michelangelo."

Williams said he recommends commissioners hire Charles Abbott and Associates, which operates the county building department, to serve as the county's construction manager and agent.

"We need somebody to actually stand over these folks' shoulders and make sure we have someone who compares our existing structure with what we'd like done," Williams said.

Members of the committee, which includes Assistant County Manager Pam Webster and Brent Steed, senior building inspector for Abbott and Associates, concluded it would probably be realistic to figure a six-month construction period, Williams said.

Commissioners last month voted to spend $277,000 in accumulated justice court facility fees, a $500,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and $1 million in county funds for the new courtroom addition, which would also include additional space for the district attorney and county clerk's office.

* On another building project, a $6,632 contract was approved for Abbott and Associates to perform a review of the plans and specifications for remodeling the Calvada Eye buildings.

Williams said the review is mandated by state statute for projects over $10 million. It will look at how a proposed addition would fit into the existing Calvada Eye building or whether it would be cheaper to just demolish the building and construct another one.

"Why didn't we do this to begin with? How did this get so fouled up?" Commissioner Joni Eastley asked.

"The county hasn't done much in the way of building projects where we had to bring an architect in. At this point in time it's probably just, we didn't have the staff on hand to take a look at this," Williams said.

County commissioners last month voted to reject bids for renovating the Calvada Eye building, as the minimum was $2.5 million.

That building would be expanded from 11,000 to 18,000 square feet under the proposed plans, building on an addition to the north and enclosing the center courtyard.

Bids for remodeling an old apartment building on the Calvada Eye into offices for the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office were also rejected last month.

Charles Abbott employees will also determine whether the Calvada Eye building lies in the flood zone.