The cost to deep clean the Fannin County Courthouse after potential COVID-19 spread decreased to $66,500 from the originally announced amount of $70,059.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Stan Helton announced the cost change at the end of a meeting Thursday, July 28, while defending the decision to have the courthouse cleaned for the amount.
“We could have done a fly-by-night company, I mean I could come out here with Lysol and spay this, and you can pay me a $1.25 if you want to, but that really doesn’t do anything,” Helton said. “Our biggest concern, when you look at everybody in this courthouse, there are people coming in here that we have no idea what their health condition is. We have employees in this courthouse … that are at great risk if something happens to them when they have this, and that is a very scary thing to do.”
According to Helton, the decision was difficult and made in the best interest of the public and courthouse employees.
“Going forward, we may have to look at this a little closer, but trying to make a decision like that, that quick, when you’re absolutely terrified of what it could somebody,” he said. “I mean some of you folks think I don’t like you, but I tell you what, and it’d be difficult to determine this, but if you could take a half measure and make everybody happy and not spend much money, okay, but is it really protecting you?”
Helton said the “game changer” going in to the decision was knowing the county would receive state funds.
“We have an award from the state that we’re eligible for, to be reimbursed for that expense and anything else that’s COVID-19 related by September 1,” he said. “That number is $364,000. … The final number is $66,500 that we spent on this courthouse cleaning, and we’ve all taken, all of us commissioners, kind of a beating on it, and you know what? I’ll take a beating on that for public safety, particular if this is federal money.”
According to Helton, $4.1 billion in federal aid came to the state and went to four counties with populations of 500,000 or more. Then, in June, the state gave eligibility to every other “county, city, local government in the state for funding in COVID-19 expenses.”
Helton said he applied, and the application was accepted, for the funds Friday, July 24.
He added, “I’m a conservative, I believe in being as tight with money as I can, but you know what? $364,000, if we don’t spend that and find legitimate reasons for it, do you know where it goes? It goes to one of the other 158 other counties or one of almost 500 other municipalities in the state. They’ll be glad to take what we don’t use.”
Helton is hoping for “gentler and smoother days” in the future.
“I’d like to think there are gentler and smoother days ahead for us, but we’re having to make a lot of things, because of all the variables coming to us so fast and so hard,” Helton said.
Post Two Commissioner Glenn Patterson agreed that it was a “tough call,” and Post One Commissioner Earl Johnson said, “I just hope we don’t have to go through it again. We’re going to experience it in one way or another it seems like. This isn’t going away over night. Everyone thought it was getting better, now It’s worse now than it was.”