Staff to move from annex building

The county purchased a vacant building last week to fill with its remaining staff housed in both the Jasper County Annex Building and the temporary office space where Jasper County Health Department currently resides.

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved a $620,000 transfer order during its Oct. 8 meeting in order to buy the property at 315 W. Third St. N. in Newton, also known as the former NewCare Health Services clinic.

The building was purchased for $616,093.

However, the transfer order supervisors voted on was not immediately placed on the agenda last week, prompting Denny Carpenter, chair of the board of supervisors, to amend the agenda to include the action item. Supervisors voted 3-0 to approve the purchase.

Newton Daily News originally believed the supervisors had approved the transferal of funds rather than the actual purchase of the building. This was not the case.

Supervisors later clarified with the newspaper the building would be the home of numerous county departments, including: community development, health, human services, veterans affairs, juvenile/adult probation, Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) and Jasper County Economic Development Corp. (JEDCO), among others.

“Essentially everything that’s in the annex building and then over there in the currently rented board of health building,” Supervisor Brandon Talsma said.

Supervisor Doug Cupples added, “We’ve been on the hunt to try to figure out what to do with the annex building. This building (former NewCare) came around. It’s a very good building. It’s going to suit our needs very well.”

NewCare Health Services opened in 2013. The primary care clinic was notable for holding evening hours, allowing walk-in patients to receive medical attention after a regular work schedule.

More than two years after its grand opening, NewCare consolidated with Newton Clinic. Officials claimed operating two clinic medical campuses “lacked efficiencies for providers and patients,” deeming the business model unsustainable.

The condition of the historical Jasper County Annex Building has been steadily declining over the past few years. In 2018, the board of supervisors decided to move forward on waterproofing repairs to the annex building’s exterior foundation. A year prior to that, the annex building tested positive for airborne mold spores.

Upon learning of a potentially hazardous mold exposure, the board of health decided the area was not an appropriate location for the health department, Newton Daily News previously reported.

This resulted in the health department moving to a temporary, rented office space at 116 W. Fourth St. S. in December 2017.

Becky Pryor, administrator of the Jasper County Health Department, said even though the building is still in the planning stages, she is excited the county obtained a new location for her department and numerous others in the annex building.

“I would like to thank the board of supervisors and the auditor for their support on securing the building and their commitment to public health in Jasper County,” Pryor said, noting that there are so many “endless possibilities” for not only the health department but other human services programs in a new building.

She added, “The board of health has been awesome, too. They’ve really been advocating for a space and trying to make our community better.”

The office of Kurt Jackson, director of Jasper County Veterans Affairs, is currently located in the annex building. Although he has not seen or been inside the new property — which is expected to be remodeled — Jackson said he, too, is excited about the move, particularly since it appears to be more handicap accessible than the annex building.

The Jasper County Annex Building does have ramp entrances near the back, but Jackson said being on a ground floor “would probably be quite a bit better” than where veterans affairs is at now.

“It (the annex building) is not great for the handicapped veterans and I do have quite a few senior citizen veterans that come to visit with me,” Jackson said. “I’m thinking after visiting with the architects they realize how I need some place for the handicapped (guests) to park close by and don’t have to come very far to come into the office. I hope they take that into account when they do the remodel.”

Weeklies Editor Jamee A. Pierson contributed to this report.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com