New Stark County Social Services site needed

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Stark County commissioners had high hopes of constructing a new office building on a west Dickinson lot, but an engineer said the site will not work.

Tim Kelly, projects engineer for Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, said the commissioners’ proposed lot at 23rd Avenue West is not large enough to accommodate enough parking and office space for Stark County Social Services, Sunrise Youth Bureau, North Dakota State University’s Stark/Billings County Extension and Stark County Veterans Services.

“It’s just not a big enough spot,” Kelly said.

The proposed site was 1.5 acres, and the office property could take up as much as 4.5 acres, he added.

Commissioner Duane “Bucky” Wolf said the spot has other quarks.

“(The original site) isn’t going to work because there’s pipes running through the south end of it,” Wolf said.

Wolf added that he would have liked to see the office building put at 23rd Avenue West, but is thankful the county may have options to build near the Exit 59 interchange west of town.

“We’ve kind of reserved ourselves 15 acres over where the hospital’s going to be built,” he said. “That is a possibility, unless we’d trade some land with somebody.”

Commissioners originally hoped to complete the project by the end of 2013, which Wolf believes is still a possibility.

Many area employees need more office space, and are hoping the offices can be built sooner rather than later, Wolf said. He added that commissioners are aware of space needs.

“(Employees) are waiting for us to do something,” he said. “They like to know what’s going on for their future.”

In February, Jerry Mayer, director for the Sunrise Youth Bureau, told The Press the building he and his staff use on Villard Street is not big enough to house area kids in need.

“If we have two to three kids spending the night here, and then we have other kids coming in for counseling, and then we have other kids coming in for classes, we don’t have that much room,” Mayer said. “It would be nicer to get a bigger spot, if we could work it out.”

In order to take the next step, Kelly said he has to meet with commissioners to discuss requirements for a new building site, which should include sufficient green space and parking, along with a proper building footprint and storm water detention area. Like Wolf, he wants to keep business as usual.

“The plan today is to hold to the schedule,” he said.

Tags: stark county commission, duane bucky wolf, north dakota state university, stark county social services, sunrise youth bureau, stark county veterans services, news