Murphy – Cherokee County commissioners made several decisions affecting emergency services following a closed-door discussion at a May 29 budget workshop.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners met in closed session to hear from architect Jeff Sherer of Architecture Unlimited. The presentation and discussion contained proprietary design work and work product that affect a competitive bid process. It also presented information that would impact the security of one or more existing or planned public buildings.
The presentation involved a proposed building to house county facilities, including Cherokee County Senior Services and the Cherokee County Veterans Assistance office on Hilton Street in Murphy, at the site where the Cherokee County Health Department is located at 228 Hill St.
The health department will remain in operation at that location until such time as funding is available for construction of a new health facility.
Design choices and competitive bidding instructions were discussed. The board gave direction to county management to discontinue the renovation project at the National Guard Armory site and to execute the movement of Emergency Management, Emergency Medical Services and 911 Addressing to 911 Andrews Road as soon as possible.
The address 911 Andrews Road is the location of Cherokee County Schools Central Office, which county commissioners have ordered to vacate by Aug. 2. The board has offered the school district use of the old National Guard Armory as an office, but the board of education has not announced any decisions.
Needed renovation work and the establishment of an Emergency Operations Center at 911 Andrews Road are to be taken from available grant funding at this time.
The board also discussed the impact and scope projects would have on other county services. After hearing information from the architect, County Manager Randy Wiggins and finance officer Candy Anderson, the board returned to open session for final votes.
The board voted unanimously to un-designate $105,653 from the National Guard Armory renovation and returned to the fund balance.
The board voted unanimously to proceed with construction of an addition to Emergency Medical Services Station 2 in Andrews and to engage Architecture Unlimited for design of the addition and renovation
to the existing Station 2 facility.
Addition and renovation was approved to cut the cost of the project while providing for new living quarters for on-duty EMS personnel and use the existing facility to house both vehicles and storage.
The board also voted unanimously to instruct Architecture Unlimited
and county administration to prepare detailed plans
and bidding processes
for a three-story structure on Hilton Street to house Senior Services, Veterans Services, Environmental Health, Cherokee County Transit and other county offices.
The board instructed for a primary bidding for the first two floors to be finished and for the third floor to be left unfinished to accommodate future growth. Alternate bids would be accepted for finishing all three floors.