Scotland County’s commissioners plan to eye most of the county’s facilities during a whirlwind, 17-stop tour on Tuesday.

Designed to allow the commissioners to familiarize themselves with the many buildings and complexes in their purview, County Manager Kevin Patterson said that the idea for the tour came from discussions he had with Board Chairman Guy McCook.

“This came out of those conversations with the idea of making sure the board could see most of the county facilities and refresh their minds about the broader scope of county operations,” Patterson said. “Without a mental image it’s really hard to understand what some of the items are that you’re talking about (as a board member).”

Department heads and supervisors are expected to meet the commissioners at each site to answer questions and guide them on their visit.

Included on the tour is the landfill, which despite being a frequent subject of conversation among the commissioners, is very infrequently visited by most people in the county.

“Most people don’t actually go there, but when we are discussing operations and talking about the ‘transfer station floor’ it will help to have visited,” Patterson said.

For Scotland County’s newest commissioner, the tour will represent an important opportunity to see many of the county’s buildings for the first time in a number of years.

“There are a lot of county facilities that I’m familiar with, including the courthouse and the jail and the (county annex offices),” said Commissioner Whit Gibson, who served as Clerk of Court for 27 years.

“Then there are some facilities like social services and the landfill and the health department that I haven’t seen in a while that I’m looking forward to catching myself up on.”

Gibson said that actually seeing the buildings and visually surveying the county’s aging structures will help the board make better maintenance and capital improvement decisions in the future.

“I’ve learned a lot of things in the last three months, and this will be another good chance to learn.”

According to County Clerk Ann Kurtzman, a tour like this has not been scheduled in several years.

Scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., the tour is expected to stretch until at least 3 in the afternoon, Kurtzman said.

“It’s a good thing to do from time to time,” she added.

The commissioners will either visit or drive by the Covington Street administration building, the jail and courthouse, the Cronly Street Annex, the Speller Building, Scotland Memorial Library, the Laurel Hill Community Center, the Palmer Road convenience center, Spring Hill Volunteer Fire Department and water tower, the forestry service facility, the Wagram Recreation Center, the Highway 401 convenience center, the landfill, Scotland Enterprises, the tennis center, the county complex and the Morgan Recreation Complex.