The Calhoun County Commission held a special meeting today, June 8th at 9 a.m. (live video feed available on Ridge News Facebook page). All three Commissioners Matt Walker, Craig Arthur and Kevin Helmick were present and entered into an agreement for the transfer of Calhoun EMS to Minnie Hamilton EMS. Minnie Hamilton Director Steve Whited presented the agreement with a motion made by Commissioner Craig Arthur to approve, with the second by Kevin Helmick, motion passed in full agreement of all three.
The second matter on the agenda was the Building Commission Discussion regarding Building.
With regards to the planned renovations of Minnie Hamilton Health Systems, Minnie Hamilton had been awaiting grant numbers from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) before moving forward. Grants were received in the amounts of $2.5 Million from ARC, three separate grants from the USDA in the amounts of $310,900, $50,000 and $99,100. According to Steve Whited, Phase 1is hovering around the $4 Million dollar mark with the entire project coming in at $19.4 Million.
The project is currently a little behind according to Whited due to a water line extension that required lines being re-routed around a fire tank that provides water to the Hospital’s emergency sprinkler system. The new line is a 6 inch line that will run in front of the building and into the fire system pump inside the Minnie Hamilton Building and the lines to the hospital annex. An additional grant was needed in the amount of $490,000 to cover the cost.
Randy Ball of the Building Commission was present to sign off on the Hospital renovations.
