UPDATE: County Buys Former Rio Kmart; Will Shift Social Services; Create VA Clinic

CREST HAVEN – A $24.1-million bond ordinance was introduced by freeholders at the Dec. 11 meeting.
Former Kmart Store
The bond includes $15.7-million to buy and rehabilitate the former Kmart building at 3801 Route 9 South in Rio Grande as the future site of the Department of Social Services.
Funding will also cover demolition, reconstruction, and improvements to the parking area and access roads.
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton said the county purchased, for $5.75 million, the entire parcel including the former Kmart and businesses that will pay rent, at a Dec. 14 auction. The minimum bid was $4.6 million.
Thornton said the present Social Services Building on Route 9, south of the Kmart facility, has been rented by the county in an agreement signed prior to his becoming director.
He added that the state would “help us with construction and rehabilitation costs for their end” of the Social Services offices. Likewise the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would contribute to its 11,000 square-foot clinic, he added.
Thornton affirmed that Tractor Supply would also be located in the center.
“For us (county) we are doubling our space and moving other departments down there. One of those departments that will relocate from Court House is the Department of Human Services.”
Various Upgrades
Also included in the bond is $3.9 million for improvements at various county buildings including the Day Care at Crest Haven Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, the county jail, and Health Department lab.
Additionally, it will acquire modular lab space for Mosquito Control, and install a pole barn at the Police Academy.
Towers for OEM
The Office of Emergency Management will get $2.2 million for radio towers to accommodate 700 MHz frequency equipment that will allow clear communications in every part of the county.
Emergency Management will also get $1 million to buy a non-passenger rescue truck and install related emergency equipment on it.
Child Advocacy Center
The Prosecutor’s Office will get slightly over $1 million to purchase the lot at 372 Court House-South Dennis Road and convert it into a future Child Advocacy Center. The site has a 3,318-square-foot dwelling built in 1973, which may be demolished or rebuilt.
Thornton said when juveniles are interviewed by the Prosecutor’s Office at present they are taken to the headquarters on Moore Road.
For children, he noted, “That is a terrible environment.”
He said the new office would be “more friendly and a protective environment” for children, which would make it easier to handle children and reduce trauma.
Additionally, it will be part of the County Park, which is adjacent to the tract.
IT Improvements
Finally, just over $300,000 will be used for Information Technology improvements including computer hardware, software, and other equipment.
Projected lifespan of the former Kmart building and the tract at 372 Court House-South Dennis Road is 40 years. The radio towers have a span of 25 years, and the upgrades of the other building are given a 20-year lifespan.
Second reading and a public hearing will be Dec. 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the Freeholders Meeting Room of the County Administration Building, 4 Moore Road, Court House.