County Supervisors OK Bid for Communicare Building Expansion

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors approved a bid for the renovation and expansion of Communicare during its regular meeting Tuesday.

The Board also agreed to split a $225,000 overage with Communicare after bids came in over the amount originally budgeted.

The county had already budgeted $1 million for the project; however, the lowest bid came in at $1,135,000 by Hooker Construction of Thaxton, with an additional $90,000 for new ADA-compliant bathrooms, bringing the total projected cost of the project to $1,225,000.

The county and Communicare will both pay $612,500 toward the project.

“Personally, I think that’s fair,” said Supervisor David Rikard. “They’re our buildings.”

Lafayette County owns the buildings and Communicare has a long-term lease it the county.

However, Communicare grew out of the current building and has been renting four other buildings in Oxford to accommodate its growth.

The project will add about 4,800-square feet of space to the main building on the Communicare campus on Highway 7 South.

Communicare Director Sandy Rogers said the expansion will help to move some of its departments back to the main building.

“But it will not be enough to move it all back,” she said after the meeting.

Communicare is the community mental health center serving Calhoun, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tate and Yalobusha counties, offering children’s mental health services, outpatient services, intellectual development disabilities services, prevention services, crisis services, behavioral services and substance abuse services.