Southwest Counseling Service will receive a 4,000-square foot building from Jonah Energy LLC.
During the Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, the Commissioners voted unanimously to accept a donated modular building on behalf of SCS. The building will be used to house psychiatric and telahealth services.
SCS CEO Linda Acker said months ago she spoke to the Commissioners about the possibility of receiving a modular building from Jonah Energy. She said employees of SCS went out and looked at the building and determined it would meet their needs, however she was asked to make sure the building would meet Rock Springs city codes. Acker said it didn’t make sense to move forward with the process if the building wouldn’t meet the current codes.
SCS then had Plan One Architects inspect the building. Plan One Architects vice president William Wheatley wrote a letter to Acker about the modular building.
The letter states, “Generally, the building was found to have little issues with compliance to any codes it must comply with. Items such as protected walls and ceilings are present at corridors, multiple egress points are present from within the building and the electrical installation is within either rigid metal or flexible metal conduits.”
The only area of concern for Plan One seemed to be the mud room attached to the modular building.
“A mud room was constructed on the exterior of the building, this mud room does not comply with required fire resistive ratings required for exit accesses and must either be modified or removed,” the letter states.
Acker said she wasn’t planning on using the mud room and figured they would just take it off before the building is transported to its new location. The building is currently located on Luman Road, which is about 21 miles south of Boulder.
“As it stands, the building could be relocated and the interior finishes refurbished to suit your needs,” the letter states.
The letter also stated that to construct a building of this size and type would cost between $860,00 and $940,000 today. To relocate, refurbish, modify the HVAC systems, construct a fixed foundation, anticipated construction costs would be between $150,000 and $200,000 depending on the system selection.
Commissioner John Kolb asked if SCS has the money to pay for this.
Acker said they do have the money in their capital construction fund and they plan on completing the project in phases. The first phase would require the removal of a small building on the property between Foothill Boulevard and Ankeny Way.
Then a foundation would be poured and the building itself would need to be moved to the sight and refurbished.
Acker said she is coming to the board because they are at the point in the project where they need permission from the Commissioners to accept the building because they can’t.
Kolb said he wants them to understand that the building must be aesthetically appealing. It is going to be a county building and it should look like a professional building.
“We’ve always took good care of our buildings,” Acker said. “It will look nice.”
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