Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Bell Mountain Village set to open in December


By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer

Bell Mountain Village, Safe Haven Health Care’s three-“module” senior care facility, is nearing completion at the northern end of Bellevue. Photo by Roland Lane

    The Bell Mountain Village senior living facility in Bellevue is on schedule to open in early December, Safe Haven Health Care CEO Scott Burpee told the Blaine County commissioners Tuesday.
    Burpee said a grand opening tour for the public will be held just prior to moving all 19 residents now at the Blaine Manor in Hailey. He said the move will occur in one day so that staff will not be spread between the two locations.
    The new $7.8 million facility is being built on a 29-acre site on the corner of Sixth and Spruce streets. Three buildings totaling 34,000 square feet will contain 48 beds, 32 dedicated to skilled nursing and 16 to assisted living, all of which will be Medicaid and Medicare certified. The assisted-living beds will all be in one building that will also contain offices and a therapy center.
    Burpee said landscaping will begin this week at one of the skilled-nursing buildings and be completed by the end of the month. He said a second building is scheduled to be done by the end of October and the third by the end of November. He said an old barn on the property has been moved and will be used as a maintenance building.
    Burpee said in an interview that the property has space for the addition of five more 16-bed modules if demand warrants it.


Safe Haven has been diligent in their efforts to get a facility built.”
Tim Graves
Blaine County deputy prosecuting attorney




    The county formerly subsidized Blaine Manor but determined it could no longer afford to do so. Under its contract with the county, Safe Haven’s no-cost, one-year lease at Blaine Manor ends Sept. 30. If it has not vacated the building by then, the Pocatello-based company has agreed to pay the county $2,000 per month in rent for the next two months and $10,000 per month thereafter, as an incentive to complete Bell Mountain Village on schedule.
    “It appears that we are right on that timeline,” County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Graves told the Blaine County commissioners. “Safe Haven has been diligent in their efforts to get a facility built.”
    The commissioners disagreed on the best approach to enforcing the lease, with Angenie McCleary maintaining that the rent be collected beginning Oct. 1 and into December, Jacob Greenberg advocating that the county wait and see if Bell Mountain Village opens as anticipated and enforce the lease terms retroactively if desired, and Larry Schoen taking a compromise position to collect rent for October and November but forego the expensive December rent if Safe Haven continues to move in a timely fashion. The commissioners agreed to wait until October or November to decide the matter.
    They also directed County Administrator Derek Voss to draw up a request for proposals to send to potential appraisers to set a value for Blaine Manor. The commissioners agreed that it should be sold as soon as possible after the residents move to Bell Mountain Village.
    “I view that building as a liability to the county,” Schoen said, referring to maintenance costs.
    Greenberg said the only reason to hold on to the building would be if the appraised value is very low.
Greg Moore: gmoore@mtexpress.com




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