Bay County Sheriff's Office undergoes additional post-storm repairs

Dec. 4--LYNN HAVEN -- First responders have been critical to the area's recovery after Hurricane Michael. Now it's time for the Bay County Sheriff's Office to complete its recovery.

RELATED: County leaders approve $2.8 million in hurricane repair projects

The Bay County Board of County Commissioners has approved additional storm-related renovations to the Bay County Sheriff's Office building on State Road 77 in Lynn Haven.

RELATED: Jail camera captures chilling audio as Cat. 5 Hurricane Michael passes over Bay County [with audio and video]

In May, Emerald Coast Constructors was awarded a contract for more than a half-million dollars for mold remediation. But there was significant water intrusion at the Sheriff's Office as the result of the hurricane, and recently, additional damage was discovered.

"We went back with an insurance adjuster and rewrote another estimate, and it came out (with) more work, so that changed the scope of (work for) the contractor," said Bay County Commissioner Tommy Hamm.

The new estimate came out to around $500,000, pushing the total cost of repairs to more than $1 million, for which the county is responsible.

Hamm noted that the county borrowed $250 million to deal with Hurricane Michael debris issues, but added that the county will seek Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement for the Sheriff's Office repairs. "... (S)o obviously, we (have) to spend it before we get it back," Hamm said.

As has already been the case, repair workers and Sheriff's Office employees will have continue to make adjustments throughout the extended repair process.

"That's going to be a sensitive and secure type of environment," said Hamm. "I'm sure the contractors are having to do things in phases, doing one side of the room and not the other. It's going to be cumbersome, no doubt."

The projected completion date for the work is late April of next year.

frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

___

(c)2019 The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.)

Visit The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) at www.newsherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.