- October 29, 2024
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Flagler County will sell the former Sheriff's Operations Center property on State Road 100 for $807,000, concluding a years-long debacle that began when deputies started reporting strange symptoms while working in the building, and environmental testing revealed mold and water intrusion.
County Commissioners voted 4-1, with Commissioner Joe Mullins dissenting, to accept GPR1 LLC's bid for the property.
"It’s time to close the chapter, put it behind us."
— RICK STALY, Flagler County sheriff
"This is a historic moment in our county over the past few years," Commission Chairman David Sullivan said.
The structure at 901 E. Moody Blvd. was previously a hospital, and sat vacant for years before the county bought it and repurposed it for the Sheriff's Office's use. The county is still paying off the costs of the renovation. The FCSO evacuated its staff from the building in June 2018 after multiple staff members filed worker's compensation claims for illnesses they thought were related to the condition of the building.
"As a property owner," Sheriff Rick Staly said during the meeting, "I don’t like the debt that we’re being saddled with either. But the reality is, it’s time to close the chapter, put it behind us."
All the evidence that had been held in the building has been moved, with the exception of some gambling machines which will be destroyed onsite this week, Staly said.
The county had decided not to try to remediate the building itself, County Administrator Jerry Cameron said, because although a CDC report on the structure had suggested potential remediation steps, it didn't guarantee that taking those steps would render the building habitable.
"So it would have been a risk to go forward," Cameron said. "But the people who have bid on it are fully aware of the risk."
GPR1 LLC placed its bid on July 8, and submitted a $40,350 check for a non-refundable bid deposit, according to a county staff document. GPR1 LLC lists a mailing address in Ormond Beach and a registered agent who lives in Flagler Beach.
The building is being sold as-is, and the results of all the studies conducted on the building will be provided to the buyer, Cameron said.
The county decided earlier this year to build a new, replacement Sheriff's Operations Center on Commerce Parkway near the county's Emergency Operations Center in Bunnell.
