Mason County Commissioners and Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer received a progress report Tuesday from Comprehend Inc.’s Director of Marketing David Green and Rebecca Cartmell, whose mother Harriett Cartmell was instrumental in founding the mental health service.
Comprehend is in the process of building 25,000-square-foot addition to its Forest Avenue headquarters in the city’s East End, Green said. Investing in the East End seemed a logical move for the agency which serves the five-county Buffalo Trace Area but has its roots in Maysville.
Harriett Cartmell founded Comprehend more than five decades ago. In the early 1960s, she was president of the Maysville Planning Commission and met with local leaders and communities to discuss the mental health needs of the area. The end result was Comprehend Inc.
The $7.5 million project now under construction is funded by $3.4 million in tax credits with the remainder in loans, Green said.
The medical building, named in honor of Harriett Cartmell, will house a primary care facility headed up by Maysville native Dr. Peter Kambelos. The goal is a model of wrap around mental health service, Green said, using a team approach.
In addition to the primary care offices, the three-story building will also house office space and community space, Green said. And provide space for employees to eat their lunch or just take a break, he said.
Renovations to the original building, the former Denham Medical Clinic, are also played with entrance locations moved from front to back to provide more privacy for clients.
Parking space is also included in the plan with Maysville’s first parking garage.
Comprehend employs 180 people across the five-county BTADD, Green said. The agency offers more than 70 programs fro adults and children ranging from psychiatric services to addiction services and programs for intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Rebecca Cartmell reminded commissioners that Comprehend is not a government agency but is a 501 c3 no profit organization.
The building project is a “huge investment in the city and county,” she said as she reminded commissioners of the “importance of this project.”
Green asked for the county’s continued support for the project and for the agency.
“We ask the county to invest in us as we invest in the county,” he said.
Also Tuesday, commissioners oversaw the swearing in by Pfeffer of Clay Buser as Mason County Emergency Management director. He replaces Tim Nolder who announced his retirement recently.
Buser is a military veteran who served in Iraq and is a former Mason County deputy.
Pfeffer said Buser was selected from a pool of three applicants who interviewed for the position and was recommended by a committee that included Maysville Police Chief Ron Rice, Maysville Fire Chief Kevin Doyle, Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford, Maysville Mayor Charles Cotterill, Maysville Assistant Police Chief Jared Muse, Pfeffer and Mason County Sheriff Patrick Boggs.
Gregory Taylor and Alex Hyrcza will served as deputies to Buser.
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