Board member Jack Seward.

A possible first phase for moving some county offices to the Orchard Hill Complex is on the agenda for the February 8 meeting.  However, during its meeting Tuesday the Washington County Board of Supervisors agreed with Kyle Martin of Martin Gardner Associates of Marion that a “broader picture” involving all county-owned space was in order. That scope includes not only the courthouse but also the engineer’s and assessor offices, the Public Health rental space in the Federation Bank building, the former jail/safety center and the lot directly across from the courthouse west entrance.

Martin explained that the feasibility study to relocate the supervisors in Building 3 at Orchard Hill, providing more space for the county attorney’s office, was virtually complete. In fact, he added, it would be ready by the end of the week. 

The extended study for the rest of county-owned space could take a month to two months for the plan and all costs figures. 

Chairman Richard Young noted that there have been discussions with other departments regarding space needs, as well as storage. Supervisor Marcus Fedler, who has been involved in the planning, said that there is a view that the courthouse should be for “judicial stuff” and for “county stuff” to be at Orchard Hill.

The Federation Bank building, which currently is for sale and for which the Public Health Department lease is valid through June, 2023, was briefly discussed. Supervisors agreed that the annual lease of $75,000 is “reasonable” for the amount of space, including use of a conference room. The board also noted that the west lot could be sold, and that former safety center razed for either a storage/archive facility or a parking lot.

Martin told the board that the county needs to see exactly how much it has in funds and to consider the change and that moves could be done in phases.

Supervisor Jack Seward stressed that the board should consider the original plan (of moving to Orchard Hill), that “we can start now,” noting that the feasibility study is virtually done.

Fedler, referring to the larger picture, suggested that phases could, in some regard, end up paying for something twice. 

When asked how long a larger study would take, Martin said “about a month” to collect the data and for findings and subsequent recommendations “a couple weeks to a month,” saying it would “absolutely” be only two months, indicating actual project work could start by June 1.