Fayette County commissioners will consider combining Judge-elect Chris Edwards' need for office space with the Superior Court's need for storage space, spending about $260,000 to solve both.

Edwards promised during his campaign for election this past summer that he would open an office in Fayette County, becoming the only judge in the Griffin Judicial Circuit to do so. But he has to rely on the county's good graces to fulfill that promise.

County manager Billy Beckett said Edwards is willing to take whatever the county can give him, but added that it is the consensus among judges that Edwards' office should be in the county courthouse.

"That seems to be the right thing to do under the circumstances," he added.

There is no space available in existing offices, Beckett said, but "there is an offset area on the side of the building, between the court and the Sheriff's Department, that is wasted because of the geometry of the building," he told commissioners last week.

County consultant Jim Mallett is preparing sketches for three fireproof vaults to store courthouse documents, plus about 420 square feet of office space for Edwards, a total of 3,600 square feet. When that's available, the project will come to the commissioners for approval, he said.

Commissioners also will consider lending $250,000 to the county Youth Soccer Association to help finish five new playing fields at McCurry Park.

Beckett told commissioners last week that the association is about $475,000 short of the $700,000 needed to complete the fields.

"They have become frustrated because they see an inability to finish the fields in the way that they would like to," Beckett reported.

The county gave land for the fields, and Beckett said he would never recommend donating any money for the project, but a combination of the $250,000 loan and a revenue bond might speed things along, he suggested.

The soccer association would pay the money back at $65,000 a year for four years.