Staff report
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners will discuss whether to offer the former Department of Social Services headquarters on West Innes Street to the Rowan-Salisbury School System for use as a central office at commissioners’ meeting Monday.
Commissioners meet at 4 p.m. on the second floor of the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Rowan County Administration Building, 130 W. Innes St.
The county is building and renovating space next to the Rowan County Health Department on East Innes Street to which Social Services will relocate beginning early next year from the current offices at 1236 W. Innes St., County Manager Gary Page said in a memorandum to commissioners.
“There have been discussions during the past year to consider offering the old DSS building on West Innes Street to the Rowan County Board of Education for a possible new location for a central office,” Page wrote.
If commissioners offer and the school board accepts, Page wrote, Daymark Recovery Services would need six months to find another location. The current plan is for Daymark to relocate from the Health Department site to make more space for Social Services.
If the Board of Education declines the offer, he wrote, Daymark would stay in the former Social Services offices, leasing 19,500 square feet of space for about $11,000 per month.
The school board has been looking at various options for a new central office. Rowan-Salisbury School System administrators and staff are currently in two locations and one of them, a former school on North Long Street in East Spencer, has structural problems, system officials say.
Early this year, the school board asked commissioners to help fund a new central office, with an estimated cost of $7.5 million.
In other business, Monday commissioners will select a chairman and vice chairman for the coming year.
Currently, Carl Ford serves as chairman of the board of commissioners and Jon Barber is vice chairman.
Commissioners will also consider a resolution to levy the additional quarter-cent sales tax voters approved in November to pay for a satellite county jail and upgraded emergency radio system, as well as a capital project ordinance for the jail.
Before that item, however, they will consider a separate resolution to rescind the tax once the county finishes paying for the projects.