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Meriwether County work session: plan to consolidate fire administration and pursue countywide facilities strategy
Summary
Commissioners discussed bringing the fire department administration and training into a single county-owned complex, commissioning a countywide department-and-buildings plan and reviewing a recently delivered courthouse assessment.
Commissioners at a Meriwether County Board of Commissioners work session on April 22 discussed moving Fire Department administration into Building A of the county complex and using an adjacent back building for training simulations while a proposed fire tower remains grant-dependent.
The discussion matters because consolidating scattered offices could centralize operations, inventory and training while keeping otherwise unused county buildings occupied.
Fire Chief Stevens described a plan to place the department’s admin offices “under one roof” and to convert space behind Building A into a simulator area for ventilation and ladder exercises. “With that basement two story on that building, put ladders on the side of it, we could climb ladders, raise ladders, all that stuff,” Stevens said, adding the move would also consolidate logistics and turnout gear now stored across multiple sites.
Commissioners asked staff to inspect the back building for water damage and other repair needs before any renovation; the board directed administration to prepare a concrete countywide plan that inventories every department and constitutional officer’s space and identifies needed renovations or moves. “We need to do, for lack of a better word, to sweep through every department… and see exactly what is in that area, what it's gonna take to fix it,” Commissioner Thurgood said.
The group also discussed the future of the elections building and other county facilities. Staff said the Industrial Development Authority had expressed interest in one county building but noted any tenant-led remodeling would be the tenant’s responsibility. “The board of commissioners decide who goes where,” a county official said.
Separately, the chairman reported the courthouse assessment has been delivered; the consultant’s report is more than 2,500 pages and will be shared with commissioners ahead of the next meeting. The assessment’s findings will inform a likely multi‑phase request for proposals (RFP) to repair and renovate the courthouse.
Staff will present a written facilities plan and a list of specific repairs and costs for the board to consider at a future meeting; commissioners said they want the plan before making relocation or sale decisions. The work session produced no formal votes.
