Before taking action on whether or not to proceed with the next step of repairs to the historic county courthouse later that evening, the seven members of the Cass County Board of Commissioners resumed discussion on a critical component of their plans to restore the aging structure: How the county is going to actually pay for it.

County Administrator Roger Fraser introduced the possibility of forming a nonprofit organization to help raise money for any renovation projects during the board’s committee of the whole meeting Thursday.

Based on his research, the process of forming such a 501C3 corporation wouldn’t require a substantial amount of work for the county, though the commissioners will need to be involved with selecting a board of directors to oversee the organization if it is created.

“We don’t need to rush into this, but we need to give some thought into what the organization will look like,” Fraser said.

Commissioner Roseann Marchetti said she was in support of such a plan as well. One of the members of the board’s historic courthouse ad-hoc committee, Marchetti recently attended a grant writing seminar, learning in the process of a number of foundations that may be able to donate money toward any restoration projects the county has in mind for the 100-plus-year-old building.

“We believe these foundations and many others would rather give to a 501C3, because it’s a tax deduction, rather than throwing money at the government,” she said.

The other two members of the subcommittee expressed optimism that the county would be able to fund a potential multimillion dollar renovation project without much strain on the county or its taxpayers. Commissioner Robert Ziliak, the chair of the courthouse committee, pointed out similar public building projects in the county that received significant contributions from private donors.

“There are a lot of deep pockets in Cass County, and hopefully we can capture some of that,” he said.

Prior to their talks about potential funding sources, Ziliak reported to the rest of the commissioners about plans to potentially move over most of the county’s offices to a restored courthouse from their current location next door inside the county annex, as discussed during the meeting of the courthouse committee late last month.

“We’ve decided it’s better for the county to have all the administration over there [at the courthouse],” Ziliak said. “We will get more use out of this building [the annex] as some other type of commercial property, because of the way it was built and is configured.”

Chairperson Bernie Williamson, another member of the subcommittee, said that such a plan falls in line with what the public wants from a restored courthouse.

Despite the clearer sense of direction, Commissioner Skip Dyes repeated a criticism of the project he has had since the issue of the courthouse picked up steam last year — the lack of a concrete plan for how the county plans on tackling such an expansive project.

“I agree 100 percent that the building should be used for county offices,” Dyes said. “There’s no problem with that. But that is an idea; it’s a thought. That’s probably a want for something. But that’s not a plan. A plan covers more than just saying ‘I have an idea.’”

Commissioner Robert Wagel also shared his doubts about the feasibility of reusing the old structure for modern use, given the advancement of infrastructural technology since the building’s construction in the late 1800s, he said.

“Maybe we should consider the building of a new building out on the campus that we have,” Wagel said.

The commissioners approved a resolution later that evening to authorize area engineering firm Miller-Davis to begin repairs to building’s roofing support beams, as part of their consent agenda, by a vote of 6-1.