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Coffee County Emergency Management Agency recently opened the jail annex for storage with a door project that will allow for sheltered storage of emergency response trailers.

“When COVID happened in 2020, I talked to the sheriff because we had an abundance of COVID supplies coming in and we didn’t have anywhere to warehouse it,” EMA Director Allen Lendley said.

Shortly after being elected in 2018, Sheriff Chad Partin shuttered the Coffee County Jail Annex in 2019 which was being used to house inmates on work detail. Lendley asked for the space adjacent to his EMA headquarters for storage of supplies.

“As time when on, we thought if we could use this for all these assets just ruining in the heat,” Lendley said.

Initially in 2023, when Lendley approached Capital Outlay Committee to ask for a large garage door and a ramp to be added in the space, the board rejected the idea. Members were concerned because the addition would change the status of the facility, which was then-listed as a certified workhouse.

Upon returning with the request earlier this year, Lendley was granted the go-ahead and allocated $50,000 by Budget and Finance to install the door and a concrete ramp.

“We looked at different options versus this,” Lendley said. “We looked at putting a building in “the fenced sally port” area, but if you put a building there you’re not going to have the space to swing out to take the trailers out of the gate.”

The project came in way under budget at about $20,000. A new building would have cost more than $100,000.

“It utilizes space that was not utilized at all,” Lendley said.

EMA Board Chairman Jimmy Hollandsworth said the project was a win-win for the county and for the taxpayers.

“This is multipurpose space and it was nothing,” Hollandsworth said. “You can use it for anything.”

An adjacent area of the annex is also being used to house the county’s new six bed morgue and is also a temporary sleeping quarters for Emergency Medical Services personnel while the Manchester Station is being remodeled.  

Lendley commended his EMA Deputy Director Brandon Gunn for spearheading the project and Maintenance Director Rick Soucy for facilitating the construction.

Capital Outlay Terry Hershman called the project a wise choice.

“This will be a great asset for the county,” Hershman said.