BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Staff Writer
LAKE BUTLER – Union County Emergency Management and the Union County Sheriff’s office are one step closer to getting a new public safety complex, with the state allocating half of the amount needed for the construction this year.
Emergency Management Director Tim Allen has been working to secure the funds to build a new home for the county EOC since 2018. The department’s current home was built in 1998, and both the size and layout limit operations.
The EOC/911 Center is the central command facility for county decision makers and response teams during and after disasters. Currently, there is not enough space for support staff, who often must stay on site for the duration of the emergency. There are no separate breakrooms, kitchen, showers or sleeping quarters for staff members. The lack of space also makes it impossible to accommodate mutual aid partners, especially for any long period.
Parking is inadequate for daily staff and is even more so during an activation. The total square footage is less than half that of state guidelines, in part leading to the facility failing its most recent inspection by the state. The building does not meet either the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the American Disabilities Act standards. It is questionable whether the building could withstand the winds should the county experience a major storm.
In 2019, the EOC/911 project was combined with the building of a new jail and the associated administration offices, making the entire project a public safety complex.
The Union County Jail was built in 1922, making it the oldest continuously operating jail in the state. It is small and in bad repair and needs to be replaced to provide current life, health and safety standards. The age and size of the jail makes it impossible to properly segregate detainees, so females must be sent to another county. This creates transportation issues, as well as making it difficult for families to visit their loved ones. It also creates an added expense for the county.
In 2020, the county received a $200,000 grant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management for the design, architectural services and surveys to prepare for the construction of a new center. These plans have been completed and the grant has been closed out. Appropriations were slow in coming, however, and it was not until 2022 that the EOC/911 part of the project was funded by a $3 million appropriation.
This year, the state has approved an appropriation for half of the funds needed for the rest of the public safety complex, in the amount of just under $7 million. Allen will apply for the remainder of needed funds (just under $7 million) this October and if the appropriation request is approved the county will receive the funds in summer 2024.
The county has cleared the land for the EOC site and the architect for that part of the project are working on a budget for the project. This must be done to make sure that the specified materials are available and in a timely manner, not always a sure thing with the supply chain issues encountered in the past few years. Allen said he hopes that the preconstruction contractors can get to work before then end of July handling the preliminary site work before the actual construction work can begin (preliminary wastewater, plumbing and electrical work).
The money is already on hand for the construction of this phase of the project and will take one to one- and one-half years to complete. The building must be ready for operation before any of the EOC/911 services can be moved, as no interruption of services can be allowed.
The remainder of the complex – the new jail and its administrative offices – cannot be started until the full amount for the construction is in hand, putting that phase of the complex off for at least a year. The Union County Sheriff’s Office will remain in its current location in the Union County Courthouse, but all jail-related offices will move to the new location when it is completed.
