By WES FERGUSON
Hays County’s Precinct 2 offices are moving out of downtown Kyle and are set to reopen Monday about four miles to the north, in temporary buildings south of Barton Middle School.
The Precinct 2 commissioner, tax office and justice of the peace office will operate out of the portable structure on Crystal Meadows Drive, just off Jack C. Hays Trail, for the next seven months as the county builds a new 14,000-square-foot office on the same property.
Hays County had been renting the old Wells Fargo building at 111 N. Front St. But its landlord, the city of Kyle, booted out the county’s Precinct 2 operation to make room for a new headquarters for the city’s growing police force, which will relocate from a cramped facility at the corner of North Burleson and West Center streets.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones said county officials are “ready and excited” to move into the temporary building at 5458 FM 2770.
“It gets us closer to where our permanent building is going to be,” he said. “The city needs its building for the police department, and we’re eager to help them out any way we can.”
The county’s budget for relocating is about $4.3 million, which includes about $470,000 for the purchase of 3.5 acres from a Schertz resident, Jones said. While a price tag of more than $130,000 per acre may seem steep, Jones said it was the best deal he found in the area.
“We’re trying to stay in the middle of Precinct 2, which is in the middle of one of the fastest-growing areas around,” he said. “The market is what it is. Of the sites we found that would work for our building, this is the most economical.”
Homeowners have donated another half acre for an entrance on Crystal Meadows Drive, he added. When the new building opens — the target date is Jan. 1 — offices for adult probation, the sheriff’s department and Precinct 2 constable will operate out of the new building, in addition to the justice of the peace, commissioner and tax office.
An old red farm house on the property was auctioned for $1,000, and the winning bidder, a Bryan resident, is in the process of moving the wooden structure at an estimated cost of $40,000, Jones said.
The city of Kyle is set to begin renovating the Wells Fargo building, and Police Chief Jeff Barnett said he hopes to move into his new digs by August or September.
