The $23-million, 51,000 square-foot Sheriff’s Operations Center about to rise within sight of the Government Services Building in Bunnell will grow by another 6,000 square feet.
The Flagler County Commission on Monday approved spending another $1.27 million to add a stand-alone, 6,000-square-foot building for the sheriff’s storage needs, next to the Operations Center simultaneously with current construction. The main building is expected to be completed by next fall. The addition should be done by January 2023.
The pre-engineered metal building will include 4,000 square feet of warehouse space with six overhead doors enabling vehicles to drive through the building, and 2,000 square feet of office space space, with restrooms. The building will also house the sheriff’s purchasing department.
Ajax Construction Co., the contractor on the project, will engineer and build the storage structure. The building itself, based on schematics presented to the commission, will not be particularly attractive–nothing more than a standard warehouse building and having more in common with a hangar than an office building. (See it in the embedded document below the article.)
The additional building was in the long-range plans for the site all along and was included in the county’s Capital Improvement Plan. But it wasn’t planned for immediate construction. That changed when County Administrator Heidi Petito thought it more pragmatic and cost-effective to build now.
“This suggestion was brought to me by your county administrator, and it was already in the CIP,” Sheriff Rick Staly told commissioners Monday. “It is very smart because of the economy of scale, Ajax are already there and has everything started. And quite frankly we don’t want to finish one building and have deputies working out of it, then start another building and work around construction equipment and so forth. So I think it was a great suggestion by your county administrator and I appreciate her bringing that forward because it was already in your five year CIP plan.”
The sheriff is also currently renting a hangar at the county airport, “a premium location of premium size” Staly said the airport director could put to profitable use the moment the sheriff vacates it.
“It is much easier to do it this way because this building was a consideration in the original RFP. If this project was closed down and Ajax was gone and off the [site] we’d have to issue a whole new bid process for this we can take a lot of time,” Holly Durrance, the county’s purchasing director, said.
The main building is an $18.9 million project. With the cost of financing, the price to taxpayers rises to $23 million, and with the addition, it brings it closer to $25 million, though the addition is now priced at some $250,000 less than when first originally proposed, when it was listed as a $1.5 million project. The additional money will be drawn from the county’s half-cent sales surtax.
“It was a conceptual estimate done on some conceptual designs,” Lon Newman, the construction manager with Ajax, said, explaining the favorable discrepancy.
Click to access sheriff-addition-operations-center.pdf
Bob J says
51,000 sq ft. now they need a shed!
Jimbo99 says
At least this cost is going towards something that will pace the crime & growth and not some stupid park water pad or pickleball expansion at a Tennis Center.
Jp says
What about sidewalks and street lights?
Sonny says
Seriously? You need to look at what this is the Taj Mahal! Stally’s Private kitchen, office as large or larger than alot of homes in this county! A HUGE HUGE WASTE OF OUR MONEY!
Celia M Pugliese says
What about the county and state get a little grant or some of our half cent sales tax and pave Shelter Drive the access to the Flagler- Palm Coast Humane Society so those Guardian Angel volunteers, fosters, adopters and workers of the shelter do not have to endure the dusty pot holed access when going to do their compassionate work at the FCPC Humane Society? Is a real shame that after the shelter was built the responsible district agency (that I was told is not the city of Palm Coast jurisdiction) in all these years have not paved the Shelter Drive access to the Humane after all the millions wasted in Taj Mahals with our taxes. I am told also that the Shelter Drive is actually private land…? How come? Then if so, buy it out and pave it because the service provided to the taxpayers and animals by the Humane Society is “invaluable”. Is time that we all get together and ask for it, also some funds to improve and expand the animals holding pens so they have to euthanize less abandoned animals.
Pogo says
@Celia M Pugliese
By far, the most worthwhile comment on local matters.
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
– Anatole France
https://www.google.com/search?q=Anatole+France
Drowned in Palm Coast says
And I can’t even get the city to fix my swale. Its been filled with water for 30 years. An engineer for the city once told me in order to fix my swale they would have to dig up 5 driveways to the west of me because when they where built, they raise each one to high so drainage doesn’t work worth a damn. And he said the city WILL NOT do that because it would cost them to much…….. But hey, make sure Deputy Dog gets a 6000 sq. ft. garage with office space to put his MUSTANGS and CHARGERS in to keep them clean from the elements.
Shark says
I guess he needs a place to store his $150,000 boat!!!!!
Deborah Coffey says
This is SO ridiculous…but SO wastefully Republican, right in keeping with the Pentagon’s budget to which we contribute $715 billion a year when we can already blow up the earth with nukes in a matter of days. And, people are complaining about a couple trillion dollars over 10 years to meet the needs of actual people? Just how much police presence and how many police toys are needed here? This is way over the top!
Skibum says
It was a smart and fiscally responsible decision to add this small addition to the current construction instead of waiting until later. We all know that costs continue to rise, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Had the county gone ahead with funding and building a new operations center for the sheriff’s department quite aa few years ago instead of the horrible and costly decision to use the old, mold infested hospital, a huge amount of money could have been saved that later went to costly civil litigation and payouts to sheriff’s employees who were sickened after having suffered for many months in that moldy building. Thank God the county council remembered recent bad decisions and has approved this quickly for a change.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Revolting waste of money. It’s all smiles and giggles when the presentations are made; sickening to watch our money going down the drain while those wasting it are laughing… Constituents needs don’t count anymore in this town; the only thing that matters it seems is the ‘wish lists’ and ‘personal pet projects’ of the elected officials , with the exception of those few officials who care about those they were elected to serve ( in my opinion).
Concerned Citizen says
This Sheriff continues to gobble up this counties operating budget.
I wasn’t aware that FCSO was the only operating agency in the county. And needed to spend millions of dollars at a time to function. How much more does he need?