The employees of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department are moving on.
After 11 years, the organization is leaving its headquarters at the Union Street Station on Southeast Second Avenue.
While it is changing offices, it is keeping its location downtown. After the move, the EPD will be located in Suite 106 of the Seagle Building Annex at 408 W University Ave., according to an Alachua County Communications Office news release.
The move, prompted by a time of tight economic budgets, should save the department about $25,000 a year, said Chris Bird, the EPD director for Alachua County.
That figure takes into account the one-time costs of the move, which include moving costs to physically transport office items as well as technical costs for setting up the computer system in the new office.
"We are all dealing with funding issues," Bird said of his department as well as other local agencies.
Although the new office is cheaper in the long run, it is also smaller. Compared to the EPD's current headquarters, which spans about 8,500 square feet, the new office is about 7,000 square feet.
The department also no longer uses workspace that it has subleased from the St. Johns River Water Management District for about 15 years, he said. The latter organization eliminated its Gainesville office, which it shared with the EPD, because budget cuts.
The move will take about a week, as office furniture and equipment are taken to the new location.
After 11 years, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department is moving its office to a new location at the Seagle Building Annex.
