CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department may soon own the building that bears its name.

On Monday, Kanawha County commissioners proposed giving the Health Department building on Lee Street to the health agency - a move designed to speed up the sale of the facility to make way for a new downtown Charleston hotel. The county has owned the building since 1975.

"They could set their own destiny," said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, who initiated the proposal. "I believe this would cause the project to move faster. If we trust these people to handle public health issues, we can trust them to be good landlords and good stewards and handle this."

Commissioners are expected to vote on transferring title of the building to the Health Department on Jan. 22.

Health board President Brenda Isaac said Monday she supports the ownership change.

"I feel the Health Department is certainly ready to take ownership of the building and property," Isaac said. "It would be a very positive move."

Last year, health board members tentatively approved a plan to move the agency's Lee Street headquarters to the City of Charleston-owned Morris Square building beside Appalachian Power Park.

"Our employees felt disregarded in the whole process," Isaac said. "We didn't own the property, and we felt like we were in the middle between the county and city."

Health board members plan to discuss Carper's proposal during a Jan. 15 meeting.

County Commissioner David Hardy also backs the plan to hand over the Health Department building.

Hardy previously criticized Mayor Danny Jones and other area politicians for allegedly pressuring health board members to move the agency before finding a suitable replacement site.

On Monday, he reiterated his allegations that public officials treated health board members "very shabbily," saying the agency's move became a "political football" last year.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department may soon own the building that bears its name.

On Monday, Kanawha County commissioners proposed giving the Health Department building on Lee Street to the health agency - a move designed to speed up the sale of the facility to make way for a new downtown Charleston hotel. The county has owned the building since 1975.

"They could set their own destiny," said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, who initiated the proposal. "I believe this would cause the project to move faster. If we trust these people to handle public health issues, we can trust them to be good landlords and good stewards and handle this."

Commissioners are expected to vote on transferring title of the building to the Health Department on Jan. 22.

Health board President Brenda Isaac said Monday she supports the ownership change.

"I feel the Health Department is certainly ready to take ownership of the building and property," Isaac said. "It would be a very positive move."

Last year, health board members tentatively approved a plan to move the agency's Lee Street headquarters to the City of Charleston-owned Morris Square building beside Appalachian Power Park.

"Our employees felt disregarded in the whole process," Isaac said. "We didn't own the property, and we felt like we were in the middle between the county and city."

Health board members plan to discuss Carper's proposal during a Jan. 15 meeting.

County Commissioner David Hardy also backs the plan to hand over the Health Department building.

Hardy previously criticized Mayor Danny Jones and other area politicians for allegedly pressuring health board members to move the agency before finding a suitable replacement site.

On Monday, he reiterated his allegations that public officials treated health board members "very shabbily," saying the agency's move became a "political football" last year.

"It would be in the public's best interest if they owned their own building," Hardy said. "It allows them to be free of political winds. We need to protect that organization from political maneuvers."

The county secured federal money to construct the Health Department building during the mid-1970s as part of an urban renewal project.

Carper said other county-affiliated agencies, such as the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority and the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority, own their buildings.

Carper and Jones have proposed building a new hotel on the Health Department site to boost convention business in downtown Charleston.

Carper said he trusted Isaac and her colleagues to move the agency once the Health Department secures title to the building. The department would be required to sell the facility to the highest bidder at an auction.

"To me this will make it transparent and accelerate the sale," Carper said. "The building will be sold at the appropriate time at an appropriate price. Of course, the 300-pound gorilla in the room is the economy."

The department's moving plans have been put on hold while the city searches for a developer to purchase the health agency property.

Last April, developers Kelsey and Angela Harding withdrew a $3 million offer to buy the site, saying they were "shocked and disappointed" that former health board President Steve Artz criticized parts of their proposal.

The Health Department needs $3 million to finance the agency's move to the Morris Square building.

"There are no strings attached with this, no gimmicks, no nothing," Carper said. "I'm just proposing a simple transfer of ownership."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 348-4869.