Bunnell, FL - Days after it was listed for sale, Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly talks about the former home of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office and what's to come for the department in the coming years.
Between 2015 and 2018, the building off of 901 East Moody Boulevard served as the nerve center for FCSO. It housed deputies, clerical staff, evidence storage, essentially everything FCSO needed to operate.
But, the Sheriff's Office soon had no choice but to leave the building after numerous employees fell ill because of the conditions inside. That evacuation came just two years after Staly was elected Sheriff, following behind former Sheriff James L. Manfre.
Two years after the evacuation and multiple inspections, and the building is up for sale, which is mostly a sigh of bittersweet relief for Sheriff Staly, who said you can be sure that he won't be a potential buyer.
"I will tell you this, I would never buy that building," said Staly to News Daytona Beach, commenting on the old operations center.
The Sheriff commented that he's happy that they can finally end this "sorted affair" brought on by decisions made by the former county administrator, former county commissioners and the former Sheriff.
"I'm not happy about the millions of dollars that have been wasted in that building," said Staly. "But, I'm glad to see that this chapter of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office is coming to (an end)."
Although, the relief comes with a price. You used to be able to find the heart of the Sheriff's Office in one location. However, since the evacuation, the Sheriff's Office has been spread out between a few different locations, including the Flagler County Courthouse just down the road from the "sick" operations center.
"We're on three floors of the courthouse, we're in court administration and we're now in a temporary evidence facility," said Staly.
Still, even though the Sheriff's Office is spread out, deputies and staff have brought a 36% drop in crime over three years to the county, according to Sheriff Staly.
"It's amazing when you consider that we've been through three hurricanes, a pandemic, an evacuation of our old operations center and now protests."
As for when they're getting a new building, Sheriff Staly said he's not sure. Flagler County's timeline puts the Sheriff's Office in a new building by the summer of 2021, but Staly believes that they will most likely move into the new facility by fall of that year.
What is known is that the building will be designed by Architects Design Group out of Winter Park, who, according to Staly, has "significant" experience in designing buildings for law enforcement agencies, including a number of agencies in Florida and the United States. Construction of the building will be handled by Ajax Construction.
And a new operations center for the Sheriff's Office might sound expensive, but taxpayers will most likely not pay any extra for the building.
"My understanding is they're able to do this without raising taxes," said Staly. "I hope the county gets a fair price for this building to help recover some of the taxpayers' losses because of poor decisions."
