August 23, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Plans are moving forward for the eventual construction of a new DeKalb County Health Department facility.
The Tennessee Department of Health has plans to build a new 12,000 square foot health department center in Smithville in partnership with DeKalb County using American Rescue Plan Act Funding.
The project has been in the making for more than two years.
At the time of the initial announcement the project was estimated to cost $3,915,400 but most of it is to be funded from the state’s allocation of ARPA funding. The county set aside $398,000 from its allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds to meet the match.
County Mayor Matt Adcock informed the county commission during a workshop meeting Thursday night that the new health department can be built on property adjacent to the site of the current health department building on Allen’s Ferry Road.
“We finally got a green light to go forward with our new health department building,” said County Mayor Adcock. “We have figured out where the property lines are. We had to research the deed to find out who really owns the property. Initially it looked like the school board owned all of it including even where our existing health department sets but after looking back at some old records, we (county) were actually supposed to receive some of that property. We now have a survey that divides the property lines, and we do have enough to construct a new health department right next to the existing health department”.
“We did speak to Caney Fork Electric Cooperative about moving some power lines and they are working on it now to give us more accessibility to build over there. That’s a win for us because it will save a lot of time and money. We are now moving this state grant money in place to be able to start paying for some things,” said County Mayor Adcock.