After much deliberation, the Brown County Commissioners today approved funds for a new building for the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department.

The Health Department, as its name implies, is a joint operation between the City of Brownwood and Brown County.  It is currently located at 510 East Lee Street, but is in need of more space.  The City has proposed to move the Department to a building owned by the City at 305 Booker Street, behind the TSTC (Texas State Technical College) building on Main Street.

The initial estimate of the cost of construction for remodeling the building was $1,200,000.  Several months ago the County Commissioners agreed to pay half of that amount, $600,000, using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  When bids for the job came in, however, they were quite a bit higher.  The low bid was $2,100,000.  The City made several cost-saving adjustments to the job, which reduced the bid to $1,671,125.  The County’s half of the higher cost would be $235,562.

On Friday, February 9, the Commissioners met to discuss the additional cost.  After an executive session of one hour, they announced that no action would be taken that day.

Today the Commissioners met again, and again went into executive session for one hour.  When the Court reconvened as a public meeting, the Commissioners discussed the matter with Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford, City Attorney Pat Chesser, and Health Department Director Lisa Dick.  The Commissioners were hesitant to agree to the higher cost, explaining that the ARPA funds were exhausted, and the current County budget had no extra money.  Crawford and Chesser explained that the construction project in the new building will take at least 290 days, and the County could pay the additional $235,562 after the new budget year begins on October 1, 2024.  With that understanding, the Commissioners approved the extra funds for the Health Department by a vote of 4-0.