Employees of the Bartholomew County Health Department’s nursing division might be making a second move in five years.
But the transition may only be to a building adjacent to its current location at 2675 Fox Pointe Drive.
While county government owns the 4,900-square-foot building on Fox Pointe, it rents 2,000-square-feet of that space to two tenants. That prompts the county to pay property tax on the building like every other landlord, county commissioner Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
"I personally am not a big fan of government being in the landlord business," county Commissioner Tony London said.
"I’ve been saying that exact thing all along," Kleinhenz added.
The tenants of the larger building have recently moved out, and if negotiations are successful in obtaining it, Kleinhenz said the move would provide the health department with 5,100-square-feet — 76% more room than they are currently working in.
"The building would be more functional and provide a lot of benefits for the health department," Bartholomew County Auditor Pia O’Connor said.
Currently, the nursing division is not only conducting their normal activities, but also providing COVID-19 testing, tracking and vaccinations, O’Connor said.
"They are literally on top of each other, and it has become very cumbersome," said Kleinhenz, who said he believes the larger building will accommodate the division for several years to come, he said.
Headed by Amanda Organist, nursing is one of two divisions of the county health department. The environmental and vital records division is located on the third floor of the Bartholomew County Governmental Office building at Third and Franklin streets.
The nursing division moved to its current location because the former Bartholomew County Annex building at State and Mapleton streets, where the division was located, was demolished.
There are two possibilities being considered regarding the current nursing division facility — either sell it outright, or use it as a trade during real estate negotiations, Kleinhenz said.
The acquisition of the larger building will be made more affordable because federal money earmarked to fight COVID-19 in Bartholomew County can be used to pay the difference between the values of the larger facility and the current building, O’Connor said.
Last May, the county received $2.68 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Recently, O’Connor announced that the American Rescue Plan will provide $16,248,421 in additional funding to Bartholomew County. Half will be received in May, with the remainder expected in 2022, she said.
"I think this (new money) is also an incredible opportunity to bridge the gaps with rural broadband," London said. "That is one of the main suggestions the federal government has made to use this money.
Usually, local government prefers not to publicly announce real estate transactions prior to closing the deal because such announcements might prompt the seller to raise the price.
"I wish we could wait another two weeks before this breaks to the public, because it could hurt us in trying to purchase it," Kleinhenz said. "But the reality is that we have to approve this appraisal to get things moving."
State law requires that approval must take place during a public meeting.
The commissioners must have both properties evaluated by two appraisers in order to purchase or dispose of property, county attorney Grant Tucker said.
That was put into motion when the county approved contracts to pay $12,500 to the two appraisers.
