City council has renewed a lease agreement with BC Hydro, which owns the Merritt courthouse, but what council really wants is a better option for the future.

At their regular meeting held Tuesday night, council approved a three-year, $110,040 ($36,680 annually) lease agreement that will see provincial court proceedings operate out of the Voght Street building until 2019.

At the meeting, some members of council voiced concern with the current building.

Coun. Dave Baker said he’s heard that some lawyers will not come to Merritt because the courthouse doesn’t provide enough space to talk with clients.

Coun. Kurt Christopherson asked if there were any plans to renovate the current courthouse.

“At the present, I understand the victims and the perpetrators are often in the same room and lawyers really do not like that,” Christopherson said.

Chief administrative officer (CAO) Shawn Boven said there are no plans to renovate the building in the future and the reason a three-year term was selected was that if the city were to look at an alternative to this building, it would involve at least a three-year process.

An upgrade was done to the building to allow for a little more space in the courthouse, Melissa Miles, City of Merritt corporate officer, told the Herald.

Coun. Mike Goetz said at the moment the the current building is the city’s only option to continue operating provincial court.

“Right now we’re caught between a rock and no place,” Goetz told his fellow members of council.

He mentioned that the city has talked to the Ministry of Justice about a new courthouse at last year’s Union of BC Municipalities conference and will likely be meeting with the ministry again.

“There’s no question the courthouse is not acceptable and it’s not the kind of courthouse we should have in this community, but that’s what we got and that’s what we have to live with,” said Merritt Mayor Neil Menard. “There are some lawyers who won’t come, but there are a whole bunch who do.”

Menard said council now needs to work as hard as possible to get a new courthouse and must continue to lobby the province on the importance of finding a new location.

The motion to renew the lease passed by a vote of 6-1 with only Baker in opposition.

Financial director Sheila Thiessen told council the province gives the city $42,400 for this lease, plus maintenance costs.

Besides criminal matters, the local courthouse provides provincial court services such as traffic and family court.

Without this agreement in place, residents would need to travel to Kamloops or other common cities for court services.

The current lease agreement between BC Hydro and the City of Merritt expired this past January.