Cumberland County commissioners progress on courthouse parking garage project

The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners approved a design-build team for a courthouse parking garage Monday night, but not without some tough questions.

CityView reported last week that the $33 million project will comprise six floors and 1,100 parking stalls, with a scheduled completion date of fall 2025. The deck will provide additional parking for the Cumberland County courthouse, the new Crown Event Center and a potential Government Services Center that could be built by the courthouse for county employees.

Before the 5-2 approval — with Commissioners Marshall Faircloth and Veronica Jones voting in opposition — some commissioners inquired about Samet’s troubled history in Guilford County. Samet’s contract with the county for a multimillion-dollar public safety building was canceled in 2023. 

Cumberland County Manager Clarence Grier said he spoke to Guilford County staffers.

“What happened is that Samet experienced some turnover in upper management staff and that delayed the project and caused an issue,” Grier said. “I think, based on my discussions, that they have recovered from that, and that should not be an issue with this project moving forward.”

Faircloth said he could not support selecting Samet/Creech because he didn’t think the deck should be built at all. He asked why the county could not find an existing property or an alternative location for the potential Government Services Center.

“I intend to vote against this because to me, it’s a monumental waste of money if there’s any alternative there, and I don’t think we’ve exhausted all the alternatives,” he said.

Chairman Glenn Adams countered that the parking deck would not only be built to support the Government Services Center.

“I think it’s going to be because all the parking spaces in the front of this courthouse are going to be gone,” he said, referring to the impending construction of the Crown Event Center, which will eliminate the front courthouse parking lot. 

In other business:

• The board unanimously approved a resolution affirming the Community Development Foundation’s support of a project to bring a Black Voice and History Museum to downtown Fayetteville.
• The board unanimously approved its consent agenda.
• The board unanimously approved a proposed schedule for budget meetings for fiscal year 2025, which will begin July 1 and run through June 30, 2025. The first meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 23, when the proposed budget will be presented, according to the schedule. Subsequent budget work sessions will follow May 30, June 5, June 11 and 19, with a fifth optional work session slated for June 20, the schedule states. A public hearing on the budget will take place at 7 p.m. June 5.
• The board nominated Dwight Thompson, Joshua Choi, Kenneth Burrows, Peter Pappas and Jami McLaughlin to be considered for three vacancies on the Civic Center Commission. (McLaughlin is a freelance reporter for CityView, covering Spring Lake.)
• The board nominated Sarah Burton, Michael Long, Laura Mussler and Donna Pelhalm to be considered for four vacancies on the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Commission.
• The board nominated Joyce Adams to be considered for a vacancy on the Joint Fort Liberty & Cumberland County Food Policy Council.
• The board nominated Ryan Aul and Torica Fuller to be considered for a vacancy on the Cape Fear Valley Board of Trustees.
• The board made the following appointments: 
• Sigma Smith to the Cumberland County Home and Community Care Block Grant Committee
• Eastover Mayor Charles McLaurin to the Mid-Carolina Aging Advisory Council
• Joey Short to the Farm Advisory Board

The board went into closed session for 23 minutes to discuss matters concerning economic development and attorney-client privilege. No action was taken after they returned. 

The board will next meet at 9 a.m. April 1 at the Cumberland County Courthouse.

Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.

This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.