The addition of 30,000 square feet to the county government office complex ups the estimated cost by $1.7 million to a total of $9.7 million.

But two architects, one a retiree volunteer, told the Moore County Board of Commissioners Monday that the additional cost will pay off in the long run.

"This is a no brainer," said Howard Warren, a retired architect who serves on the county's panels planning new buildings to provide space for county agencies and to enlarge the jail.

The board voted 3-2 to approve the schematic drawings as presented by architect Katherine Peele of the LS3P firm.

Commissioners Tim Lea and Cindy Morgan voted against the motion by Chairman Nick Picerno. They reiterated their objections, not to the design, but to the decision to locate the office building on the same 21-acre tract in downtown Carthage, where the detention center-public safety complex is to be erected. They argue that the tract is not large enough for those two buildings plus a larger courts facility, which a separate study committee says is a vital need for construction in the same area.

The additional 30,000 square feet, which had been recommended by the board, would provide a full basement and a second floor above the commissioners' meeting room.

In other business during the Monday meeting the commissioners approved a request to use $55,000 of state lottery money to replace the sound system in the Robert E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, approved submission of a $30,000 grant application to the Rural Advancement Foundation International for a farm-to-table produce initiative, approved a contract with the Cattlemen's Association if the county is successful in its application for a grant from the Rural Center to buy an aerator for lending purposes to local ranchers, and tabled a proposal to implement a partial longevity pay plan for the remainder of this budget year.

More details will appear in the print version of The Pilot.