The Marshall County Commissioners and County Council members conducted a joint work session Wednesday morning and discussed a space issue in the County Building.
The Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office needs more space and the joint work session discusses several options. With the Prosecutor’s office on the main floor of the County Building and using half of the west side, the obvious expansion is the space currently housing the Health Department. If that expansion happens where would the Health Department move? It was discussed using the third floor meeting room and a portion of the Extension Office. They also discussed relocating the Health Department to the Community Resource Center but rent is $2,000 a month including utilities. There was a suggestion of looking at a building that’s for sale near the county building that could be another option.
The group also discussed moving the Extension Office out of the County Building. One option is temporary leasing space in Argos. Two locations have been looked at in the downtown area. Another consideration is building a new facility on the 4-H Fair Grounds for the Extension Office.
County Commissioner Kurt Garner suggested hiring a firm to conduct a use study of the complete building making sure the County Building is being used to its fullest capacity.
Commissioner Deb Griewank said, regardless of which option is chosen it’s going to cost us money.
There seemed to be a consensus on conducting a use study of the County Building and a suggestion was to also look at a feasibility study for a new 5,000 square foot building at the Fair Grounds.
No action was taken on any option. The County Council and the Commissioners used the work session to discuss the issue and begin the process of making a decision of which way they want to proceed.
