Flagler County Commissioners have a problem to solve at the Sheriff's Office Operations Center in Bunnell.
Sheriff Rick Staly outlined his concerns and demands in a letter to county officials last week and pointedly reminded them of the county’s responsibility "for providing and maintaining county buildings for the Office of the Sheriff” under state statute.
But remediating possible air quality issues at the headquarters at 901 E. Moody Blvd. is only part of the problem.
So far, county officials have pledged to find out what is causing health problems for employees in the building and fix it. But there is a danger that past could become prologue in this developing drama.
The building, a former hospital site, has been the subject of controversy since the county purchased it in 2013 to convert it into a law enforcement command center. In addition to questions about the $1.23 million purchase price, an ethical issue concerning then-county commissioner Barbara Revels surfaced, adding to the site’s financial and political baggage.
While taking decisive action to ensure the safety and welfare of Sheriff’s Office employees should be the central focus, the issue threatens to dredge up past concerns about the purchase, which could cloud efforts to remediate the situation.
The primary goal should be to discover what, if any, “sick building” issues the facility may have and deal with them expeditiously. But if the debate turns from what to do about the building now to a rehash of the decision made five years ago to buy the property, that goal could become secondary.
For some in the community, the current problems are just part and parcel of what made the purchase a bad deal from the outset. If the issue becomes a question of the wisdom of acquiring the property, it becomes that much more difficult to find a resolution to the building’s problems.
It is unlikely the county will choose to cut its losses and find a new site for the operations center, either through purchase of an existing facility or construction of a new one.
That means county officials, the Sheriff’s Office and the public have to work together to fix the problem with a minimum of finger pointing. Otherwise nothing much will be accomplished and the problem will only get that much harder to resolve.