County buys 5 acres from church for fire station

Clay County Commissioners approved a 5.53-acre purchase from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church at a cost of $193,550 during their Sept. 13 meeting.

The property is adjacent to existing Fire Rescue Station 24 in Virginia Village, south of Green Cove Springs.

Deputy County Manager and Fire Chief Lorin Mock told commissioners that the volunteer station originally consisted of a shed. Mock said a manufactured home on stilts was later added to the site and that his department hopes to soon replace the structures. Mock added that the church had available acreage on a former ball field. The purchase will allow the county to replace Station 24 on its current site. “We believe (the transaction)represents some reasonable economies of scale here where we can keep the station in operation and hopefully build the replacement on site,” he said.