Coffee County health department, animal shelter projects moving forward despite steel delays

Commissioner Hirschman updated the Coffee County Board of County Commissioners on progress at two county construction sites, saying the health department’s foundations are about half finished and that the county animal shelter has been delayed by steel-manufacturer backlogs but still aims for completion in January.

The update matters because both projects provide direct public services: the health department will house county public-health operations and the animal shelter will serve animal-control and community-animal-welfare needs.

“All of our colors and everything have been selected for the health department,” Commissioner Hirschman said. “The footings and foundations in on the health department, they're probably at at least 50% complete.” He added that anchor bolts were already placed and that crews were setting header block for the floor slab in poured sections, though recent rains have slowed some work.

On the Coffee County Animal Shelter, Hirschman said the county had encountered delays tied to steel tariffs and a surge of orders that left metal-building manufacturers with a backlog. “Some of that is because of the steel tariffs, and a lot of, the reason why it takes so long on a steel building right now is everybody flooded the steel manufacturers right before any tariffs were installed or put into place, which now has made the manufacturers have a backlog of buildings to produce,” Hirschman said. He said approved drawings from the metal-building manufacturer were expected on the 18th of the month; once those drawings are approved, work on foundations, the slab and plumbing can proceed.

Hirschman said groundwork for plumbing will start once manufacturer and engineer drawings are finalized and that, despite delays, the project still shows a completion target of approximately January. He cautioned that rain had impeded daily progress and that schedules depended on manufacturer deliveries and on-site weather.

There was no formal vote tied to the update. Commissioners asked no substantive follow-up questions during the report and no new funding or schedule changes were proposed at the meeting.

Next steps: final approval of the metal-building drawings, continuation of foundation and plumbing work, and routine site inspections; commissioners did not set a further public update at the meeting.