Published March 23, 2006
County building swap completed
Former hospital bought by county,
Sidebar and Federal buildings sold as part of deal

By Michael Moore
At a called meeting Thursday, Commissioner Robert Jones and agents from Elite Development swapped checks to finalize the sale of two county buildings and the purchase of another.
The former SideBar building and the federal building now belong to Elite Development, operated by Craig Meffert and Joe Warren. They submitted the only bid of $1,200,000, which was accepted by the county for the two county buildings.
Sold by Meffert and Warren to the county was the former Mountainside Hospital building, for which the county paid $1,275,000 on Thursday. The property, on Highway 5 South, contains almost six acres.
Jones plans to move all non-judicial county offices into the new property by October of this year.
Until then, the county will lease the federal building from the new owners, an agreement also signed Thursday. Currently the county tax offices and tax assessors' offices, and the 911 center are in the federal building.
Those departments as well as the commissioner's office, planning and development, public works, and eventually environmental services will be moved to the former Mountainside building. The coroner and the local chapter of the Red Cross will have offices in the new building as well, Jones said.
Preliminary plans show the 911 center will be located in a smaller building--the former laundry room--behind the main facility.
The commissioner said the 30,000-plus square foot facility, which includes both buildings, should accommodate the county's need for office space for at least 20 years. He said the county's ownership of the building solves the problem of lack of space that has been apparent since the beginning of 2005.
Initially the county will only need about 18,000 square feet of the building.
"This is the best option with the least amount of tax increase, and it gives us room to grow," said Jones. He added that the building gives the county more time to potentially build onto the courthouse.
Meffert said the building is "probably one of the strongest buildings in Jasper."
The courthouse and annex will be used only for judicial services and the district attorney's office. Renovations to the annex will include adding a courtroom to the top floor, said Jones.
Extensive remodeling in the former Mountainside building will be required to suit the county's needs. Jones estimated the total cost of remodeling will be $48 to $54 per square foot.
Earlier this month the commissioner signed a contract with Bingham and Guy Roofing Contractors to put a new membrane roof and insulation on the building. The winning bid for that project was $244,000 for a 30-year roof, and Jones said that would likely be the biggest expense associated with remodeling.
Meffert has said he would like to turn the former SideBar building into another restaurant.
He does not currently have plans for the federal building, except to allow the county to continue operations there until they can move into the new facility.
According to the lease on the federal building signed Thursday, the county will pay eight dollars per square foot per year. The current lease runs until the end of 2006, with an option to extend it for another year, county attorney Phil Landrum, III, said.
But Jones does not expect the building will be needed that long.