The former Robeson County DSS building will soon be a 'one-stop shop' to serve county residents. The building has been vacant since April 2011. | File photo

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Bob Shiles

Staff writer

LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Board of Commissioners on Monday will get an update on the renovations and construction work taking place at the county’s former Social Services building on Caton Road.

Last September, the commissioners gave the go-ahead for renovations and repair work to be done to the newest part of the former DSS building, a two-story addition built in 1989. The building is actually seven buildings cobbled together — built between 1921 and 1989 — and encompassing anarea of about 52,000 square feet.

The county has been planning for some time to renovate the facility and use it for a “one-stop shop” to serve county residents. Plans for the facility include using it to provide office space for the county’s Planning and Zoning, Inspections and Environmental Health departments. Also, plans call for locating a GIS mapping technician in the building.

The departments moving into the building are currently in different locations, requiring those needing information or services from more than one department to travel to different sites.

The former DSS building has been vacant since April 2011, when Social Services moved into its new $17.5 million building on N.C. 711 just west of the Health Department. The former DSS building had not met state space requirements for a number of years.

In other business, the commissioners on Monday will:

— Hear a presentation about Robeson Emergency Mobile Specialists, a new emergency mobile repair organization. REMS provides preventive maintenance and repair services of emergency mobile equipment.

— Consider a resolution requesting the county to regulate zoning within Proctorville.

— Consider HVAC replacement at the Robeson County jail.

— Consider a non-emergency franchise contract that will allow Southeastern Regional Medical Center to transport patients to and from hospital facilities — as well as transport discharged patients — when MED1 is unable to provide transport.

— Hold a public hearing on a request to amend a conditional-use permit issued in July 2007 allowing the establishment of a winery/vineyard in Smith’s Township. The purpose of the amendment is to include a community center on the property and to extend the hours of the winery’s operation.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the commissioners room of the county administrative building on North Elm Street.

Reach staff writer Bob Shiles at 910-272-6117 or bshiles@heartlandpublications.com.