All but one Yates County Legislator that was in attendance at a special meeting to discuss building a new county highway department facility in Benton Center voted for moving forward with the plan. Jesse Jayne cast the only vote against moving the project out to bid.
County Administrator Nonie Flynn says with 95 percent of the drawings and design for the facility complete, the cost will range between 23-MILLION and 24.6-MILLION dollars depending on if the Legislature votes to allow gas to Benton. The multi-purpose build would see the county’s Office of Emergency Services be housed at the proposed facility and there would be shared spaces for training and public health clinics. In anticipation of this project, Flynn says the county has placed any excess fund balance into its building reserves since paying off its debt for the county courthouse and office building with the hope of being able to do the building without any debt. The county would also use funds it received from the American Rescue Plan Act towards the project.
Bids for the proposed project are due back to the county by March 6th.