Denton County commissioners are expected to hire a mover today for the next set of relocations to the Denton County Administrative complex.
Awarding the bid during the court’s regular meeting today will be a small step but a necessary one toward finishing the second phase of a three-phase project to bring together under one roof many of the departments currently scattered throughout the city of Denton.
“We’re excited — we can’t wait to get moved in,” said facilities manager Danny Brumley.
Already moved into the building as a part of Phase I in 2010 were the health clinic, the Women, Infants and Children program and Child Protective Services.
This next move, which Brumley said should start in the third week of December, will bring the elections, game warden, Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission and adult probation offices to the complex.
Work for this phase began in late 2011.
The elections office is now in the Joseph A. Carroll Building at Carroll Boulevard and Hickory Street. Adult probation is located on East McKinney Street near Denton City Hall. TABC offices are in the government building at Loop 288 and Market Street.
The game wardens do not have a permanent office in Denton.
“Our buildings are getting old. They have kind of lived their life expectancy,” Brumley said.”
He said the county is anticipating selling most of those buildings once they are empty.
Hunt Construction is handling the construction duties on the complex.
Brumley said one aspect of the new complex is the effort to make it a cleaner, “greener” building and garner the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver facility distinction.
“What LEED means is, we use a certain percentage of recycled material,” Brumley said. “You try to do as much as you can to conserve. A lot of the products and building material was recycled — the counter tops, things like that. You can’t tell it by looking at it.”
The complex features one large central plant for cooling and heating, which over the long run will save the county money, he said.
Features at the complex that resemble big grain silos will collect rain runoff to be used for lawn sprinklers, helping to save more on utilities, Brumley added.
County Judge Mary Horn said it will be great to have everybody in one complex. She said she is particularly looking forward to the shared conference room at the complex, which will be used by the elections office to train election workers as well as hold training for county employees.
The third phase will include the Carroll Building and the commissioners. The start date on it has not been determined.
BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com .
