OKEECHOBEE -- The Okeechobee County Commission Thursday approved an agreement with Hall Architects, PA for professional Architectural Services in the amount of $108,234 for the proposed Okeechobee County Public Works Department Office Building.

According to the staff report, since the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, the Okeechobee County Road Department has been housed in a mobile unit because of the damage that occurred to their office building. Their office building was originally used as a scale house by its previous owner and was donated to the county, transported to the complex and installed on a block column foundation.

The $1,400,000 budget proposed for the complex project includes:
• Architectural/Engineering fees $115,000;
• Building construction, $900,000;
• Right-of-way purchase, $150,000;
• Generator, $100,000; and,
• Demolition of old structure and contingency funds, $135,000.

In other business, Okeechobee County Commissioners Thursday approved a Memorandum of Agreement regarding Fire and EMS services between Okeechobee County and the Florida Department of Corrections for the Okeechobee Correctional Institution. Okeechobee County Fire Rescue (OCFR) is the fire and emergency medical services provider for the Okeechobee Correctional Institution (OCI) operated by the Florida Department of Corrections.