- November 1, 2024
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What should the county do if the Sheriff's Operations Center‚ evacuated since June because of concerns that it is a sick building, turns out to be beyond repair? And, in the meantime, where can the sheriff consolidate his operations while the county figures that out?
Flagler County commissioners approached those questions during a meeting Jan. 14, but didn't come to a conclusion, instead agreeing to set more meetings.
But Sheriff Rick Staly made it clear that the current situation can not continue. His staff is now divided between two facilities — the jail administrative building, and the county courthouse — and still keeps a good deal of its equipment at the Operations Center, so employees are still entering it frequently. More than 30 have reported symptoms, like respiratory issues and rashes, that they believe have been caused by the building.
"The employees deserve a safe ... place that will serve the taxpayers," Staly said at the County Commission meeting. "We need to consolidate our operations. There needs to be a better short-term or intermediary solution, and there also needs to be a long-term solution. … The current situation is becoming more unbearable."
And, he added, "We need a light at the end of the tunnel. ... The biggest concern is that we’re never going to get to an end of this process."
County Commissioner David Sullivan, who's previously said he does not want to spend any more money on the Operations Center building, said the county needs to consider what it will do if the structure can't be reoccupied.
He noted that there have been various meetings about the building involving the sheriff and county staff members, and suggested the commission get involved.
"Right now we need to get involved and know exactly what's happening," Sullivan said. He added that he wanted to be there for major decisions that affect the county, not read about them afterward in the press.
Commissioner Joe Mullins said he'd attended impromptu meetings about the building that began the Friday before Christmas.
Commissioners Donald O'Brien, Charlie Ericksen and Greg Hansen agreed with Sullivan that the board should be more involved.
"The meetings are fine, but we’re not doing anything," Hansen said. "We’re not doing crap about the building; it’s just sitting there."
O'Brien thought the board should begin looking at the ramifications of various options, "so we can have a a decision matrix."
He noted that the board is still waiting on the results of testing on the building conducted by several different sources, including a Centers for Disease Control team.
The commission considered assigning one board member, and perhaps an alternate, to be involved in the staff meetings concerning the building.
But it instead decided, at O'Brien's urging, to hold further County Commission workshops about the issue: That would keep the discussions open to the public and avoid any violation of the state's Sunshine law.
"It's more work, but that keeps everything out in the public," O'Brien said. "That doesn’t preclude any commissioner from meeting with staff at any time to get an update."
Clerk of Court Tom Bexley told the board he thought that would be the right approach.
"This is a very large capital asset," Bexley said. "It's your duty to take this up. It's your duty to take it up in the sunshine."
