WORK will start on Minehead's new community hospital "any day now" after West Somerset Council signed the legal document committing it to paying £1.1 million towards the infrastructure costs of the development.
There were just days to spare after the council's executive director Adrian Dyer revealed he did not have the authority he thought he had to sign the agreement and the deadline was fast approaching - today (Friday).
The authority was forced to hold a hastily convened extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to formally approve the deal.
Such was the importance, the meeting was attended by the council's solicitor who gave the key legal agreement to Mr Dyer to sign as soon as the vote was taken.
Despite Mr Dyer describing the deal as a "momentous moment for this council", just a dozen of the authority's 31 councillors were present.
Members originally agreed in April last year to pay the £1.1 million towards the infrastructure costs of the development after being told the cash was vital to ensure the building went ahead.
Although the £26 million new hospital is being largely funded by a Government grant, the money does not cover the cost of levelling the land and the construction of a new roundabout and access road off Seaward Way in Minehead.
The council will have to borrow the money to pay the £1.1 million bill, having previously been forced to pull the plug on their promised £11.2 million contribution to a leisure centre and pool on the site.
Councillors also agreed to a series of land swaps as part of the deal, which will provide the district council with two plots of land alongside Seaward Way.
One will be banked for future use while the other will be actively marketed for housing.