FELLSMERE — When the Fellsmere government offices move across the way into the Old Fellsmere School, they will leave behind vacant modular buildings.
To make use of those buildings, City Manager Jason Nunemaker and Health Department Administrator Miranda Swanson have been in preliminary discussions about expanding the Women, Infants and Children program into the soon-to-be-former City Hall offices.
“We’d like to do that,” Swanson said of offering more services within the City of Fellsmere.
Already, the Indian River County Health Department offers Women, Infants and Children services twice weekly at Treasure Coast Community Health on the east end of town.
Nunemaker said that by having the Health Department move into the old city government offices, the department would be able to reach more people more conveniently.
“They want to do more to serve our residents,” Nunemaker said.
Swanson said that the Health Department would have to get permission from state officials before an expansion could go through.
“We’ll work with them,” Nunemaker said.
Nunemaker said that he has been looking for a way to make use of the city hall complex once the government offices move out. He added that the city would look to lease the space to the Health Department at a reasonable rate.
“We’re not looking to make a tremendous amount of money off this,” Nunemaker said, but enough to cover the city’s related costs.
If, for whatever reason, the Health Department does not expand into the complex, Nunemaker said that he would pursue other inquiries he has received. The plan would be to offer other public services and create a “one-stop shop” of services for the residents.
Other possibilities could include mental health practices and other similar services, he said.
The modular buildings on the city hall campus have been fully depreciated financially but structurally they could still be used for the years to come.
“They’re in decent shape,” Nunemaker said.
Eventually, the city would remove the modular structures and could either build permanent structures or leave the space open for events, he said.