Marion County Highway Engineer Mike McCormick believes he may have found a site to relocate the County Highway Department.
He told the county board they are currently getting an appraisal on a 12 acre property that is currently a bean field between RP Lumber and Hoots Chapel Road between Salem and Odin.
“The location where we are at is too small and I would like to at least triple what we got there so that puts us in that 10-12 acre mark. That should be sufficient for future growth and should give us a good 30-40 year run. The one we are at now was built in 1939.”
The currently facility is located on South Puryn Street at West Whitaker Street in Salem. In addition to being too small, the existing building has a multitude of structural problems.
Once the appraisal is completed, McCormick says they will try and negotiate a sale price with the property owner. If an agreement can be reached, the county board will be asked to move forward on the project.
