COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County commissioners don't consider there to be any conflict of interest in their choice of architecture firm to develop a plan to consolidate county facilities, they said on Thursday.

Commissioner Jai Nelson acknowledged that her father, Coeur d'Alene architect R.G. Nelson, has worked in the past with NAC Architecture, which is now half finished with developing a county Facilities Master Plan.

But Jai emphasized that such efforts were only in joint ventures between NAC and her father's firm.

R.G. Nelson is not working on the county's facilities plan, she said.

"He's never been on their (NAC's) payroll," Jai said. "Architecture firms do joint ventures all the time."

R.G. Nelson is listed as a principal architect on the NAC Architecture website, but Jai said that is because of the two firms' past efforts together.

Steven McNutt, an NAC principal architect and managing principal for the company's Spokane office, confirmed R.G. is not involved on the project whatsoever.

NAC has worked with R.G. "primarily in the distant past," McNutt said, with the most recent project about five years back.

"As his career has sort of wound down, we have pretty much been inactive with him," McNutt said.

He added that R.G. is not an employee, despite his presence on the company website.

"It's sort of a part of an ongoing relationship that we've had with him over 25 years, to have him sort of ready made to act on our behalf, and us on his behalf, whenever there are projects that we jointly agree to pursue," McNutt said.

Jai noted that the commissioners put the Facilities Master Plan project out to bid in the typical county process. There were five submittals, Commissioner Nelson said, each of which was rated according to a prepared scoring sheet.

NAC Architecture was selected because it had the best scoring, she said. The county has contracted for NAC to produce the facilities plan at a cost not to exceed $84,988.

Commissioner Todd Tondee noted that Jai had disclosed on the record her father's past work with NAC Architecture when the officials were considering the contract. Jai, an interior designer, had also reported her own past experiences working with NAC on projects.

"There's no financial benefit to her or any of her family members," Tondee said of NAC Architecture's involvement with the facilities plan.

Commissioner Dan Green said the commissioners have not been approached by any members of the public concerned about a possible conflict of interest. The only mention of it he observed from the public was one blog posting, he said.

R.G. Nelson could not be reached for comment.

Jai said that though she has worked with NAC Architecture in the past, as well as other companies that bid on the project, she does not consider those facts to pose a conflict of interest.

"It's a small town, and it's my field," she said, adding that architecture firms and related companies work together often.

McNutt noted that Jai would have no involvement in the project, either.

"There's no interior work involved," he said. "Her past involvement on interiors were completely separate assignments from what we were doing with R.G."

The commissioners announced last May that they would pursue a Facilities Master Plan to consolidate county operations onto the Government Way campus. With courtrooms scattered across four different locations, and money being poured into maintaining operations at the Juvenile Justice Center downtown, the goal is to reduce costs and operate more efficiently, Commissioner Nelson pointed out.

To prepare for growing court operations and also consolidate current ones, the draft facilities plan calls for a new $20 million justice center, and a $7.8 million parking garage to accommodate such growth.

"We're trying to plan proactively for our growth," Commissioner Nelson said.