With construction costs at a 15-year low and attractive interest rates, there’s wide agreement that it’s a good time to build.

With that in mind, Cherokee County Councilman Tim Spencer said council should consider moving forward with the proposed construction of a new county administration complex on the former Big Mill site.

Milliken agreed last year to sell the former manufacturing site to the county for $435,000 with the stipulation the county build a administration office building on the property.

The county plans to fund its new government center partly with an estimated $3.5 million in tax revenue it has set aside in its capital building fund. The remaining cost will be financed with bonds.

Although several council members want to delay the project until there’s a major upswing in the local economy, Spencer said he sees no reason to wait.

“We need to move forward,” he said. “Right now, contractors are bidding low just to get the job and construction materials are at a 15-year low.”

Spencer also noted that interest rates are favorable for borrowing.

The project would put some of the unemployed back to work, Spencer said.

“It would only be temporary but you would put 200 to 250 guys back to work with a project like this,” he said.

There will be operating savings as well with a new administration complex, which would bring under one roof various departments now scattered at different locations.

“You would consolidate all the utilities under one building and cut down on the rent we are paying now on the buildings,” he said.

At the past council meeting, Cherokee County Interim Administrator Holland Belue said the site has met all the federal government’s Brownfield guidelines, which protects the county from liability if contaminants are discovered on the property.

Although there has been no price tag attached to the project, it’s been speculated the new administration complex could cost as much as $10 million.