MOORE HAVEN — A good-sized chunk of Glades County’s allocation from the CARES Act will go toward a renovation of the old health department building to relieve cramped constitutional officers …
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MOORE HAVEN — A good-sized chunk of Glades County’s allocation from the CARES Act will go toward a renovation of the old health department building to relieve cramped constitutional officers in the Glades County Courthouse after commissioners’ action on Aug. 11.
“This, again, is funds that have been approved,” County Manager Bob Jones explained to commissioners Aug. 11 during their meeting at the Glades County Regional Training Facility. They had just looked over several agenda items related to the special federal grants that are financing housing and business assistance programs because of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The expenditure to remodel this has been approved by FDEM, and our auditors agreed that this is an approved expense, the reason being social distancing,” he said. (All local spending of the federal money is administered through the state Department of Emergency Management.)
Jones said that with the help of the longtime former board chairman, Commissioner John Ahern, the county was able to find some plans done by Wright Construction from 2013-14. “Time is of the essence here,” he noted since the federal funds must be committed by Dec. 31, “and I would say we probably need to use this plan as a good footprint.”
He said if they approve the project, “this is something we need to advertise this weekend, open it up in two weeks, and get this job done,” suggesting that whatever contractor they hire could just modify that plan.
Commissioner Donna Storter Long, however, suggested the board offer it as a design-build project, “and then they design it to our criteria and build it to that.” She said the old office plan was not going to work.
Ahern agreed. “If we’re looking at moving the supervisor of elections (office), HR, county manager, the layout’s certainly going to be different than that. They just need to put the offices in a different location” (inside that building). He noted the walls would need to be put in with a different layout because Elections Supervisor Aletris Farnam hasn’t been consulted.
County Attorney Richard Pringle noted that the county at least needs to “harden the structure” and make it comply with codes for hurricane protection, Americans with Disabilities Act access, electric service, internet and phone wiring, air-conditioning, etc.
Duane Pottorff, Glades County chief deputy sheriff, said the building is “just a shell” and that the electrical system is not code-compliant.
Commissioner Long asked if they could put out a request for bids and get it back quickly, and Pringle replied he and staff would do their best.
Her motion to follow Pringle’s advice and establish a specific floor plan after consulting with the contractor was seconded by Ahern and passed by a 4-0 vote. (Vice Chairman Weston Pryor was absent.)