The concept for the Chaffee North Public Safety Complex. Courtesy image.
The Chaffee Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) has approved the slightly more than $9.8 million contract for the construction of the Chaffee County North-End Public Safety Complex to be located on Greg Drive in Buena Vista. The total construction cost of $10,573,664.97 has been offset with grants and a congressional allocation. This moment has been years in the making.
The contract with Diesslin Structures Inc. was discussed in Work Session on February 6 and approved during the BoCC February 7 regular meeting.
“This is a major milestone for the north end of the county,” said Commissioner Keith Baker. “The community owes major thanks to Josh Hadley, Gary Greiner, Beth Helmke, and to Christy Doon at DOLA [Department of Local Affairs] for the $750,000 DOLA grant. And to Erin Meeks, who shepherded the $1 million in congressional allocation that Senator Bennet’s office and Senator Hickenlooper’s office got approved for the building.”
The new structure will house the northern portions of Chaffee Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and a northern base for the Office of Emergency Management’s Emergency Command Center North, as well as a northern office of the Sheriff’s Department. It will also include a Board of County Commissioner meeting room and a community room.
The current members of the BoCC acknowledged that while they happen to be the elected officials on duty right now, so to speak, they aren’t the people who can take the credit.
“We want to acknowledge the work of Sig Jaastad and all the previous commissioners who kept moving this forward,” added Baker. ” Our successors will get to enjoy the tangible benefits.”
The Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners, for 2023. Left to right, Chair Keith Baker, P.T. Wood and Greg felt. Photo by Jan Wondra.
“The boards before us set up the land purchase in 2013. They had great foresight and we’re glad they acted when they did. It was a timely purchase,” said Commissioner Greg Felt. “The other thing they did was in their work to create a dedicated revenue stream for EMS, that has helped fund EMS services and funding for this project. It’s been a long time coming and I’m looking forward to having our first meeting there.”
“I’m excited to get this done,” said P.T. Wood, the newest of the county commissioners. “I’ll be the commissioner who gets to go to the most meetings there.”
The motion to approve the contract was made by Felt, with Wood seconding. Approval was unanimous.
With the contract signed, the groundbreaking is expected to be around May 1st or 2nd this spring, and construction is expected to take 12 months, with a projected completion date of May, 2024
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