Starland County is moving forward on the reconstruction of a new county office.
On May 25 of last year, Starland’s office on Main Street in Morrin burned. The fire completely destroyed the County’s offices as well as the ATB. Last week the building was finally demolished.
“It has been 10 months and it has sat there,” said Starland Reeve Steve Wannstrom, who is relieved to see work being done.
Since the fire, the county has made strides to return to normalcy. After using the new Munson Fire Hall for offices right after the fire, it has since moved back to the community of Morrin in a temporary office space.
The county has since identified land it previously purchased on the railway right-of-way on the east side of Railway Avenue in Morrin as a suitable site and used its own crews to complete some site work.
Along with the new office, the county has identified the need to construct a new Public Works facility and have combined the projects.
The County posted a tender for a request for proposal on January 25. They are looking for a qualified consultant/contractor team to provide bids on a design and construction project. The request on the Alberta Purchasing Connection appears to show there is great interest from qualified bidders.
Wannstrom says the cost will be a factor, like any project. He said the county has funds in savings, and they are looking at funds from insurance to build the project. The request for proposal closes on March 22.
“We hope to be building, or at least starting this year,” said Wannstrom. “We’ll see what happens.”
