COLUMBIANA COUNTY Purchase of site for court approved

Construction could begin as early as next fall.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A bustling commercial corridor just north of the village is expected to be the site of the new Columbiana County municipal courthouse.
Commissioners agreed Wednesday to act as purchasers of the Center Township site selected by municipal court judges Mark Frost and Robert Roberts.
A deal to buy the three-acre site along Saltwell Road for $150,000 is expected to close in coming months.
Money for the land and construction of a nearly $3.6 million courthouse will come from a special court fund fueled by fees paid by defendants in criminal and traffic cases.
The proposed site is on property owned by the Columbiana County Agricultural Society, the private, nonprofit agency that oversees the county fair.
The society uses the vacant land as a parking lot when the county fair is in session each summer.
Judges Frost and Roberts said agricultural society-owned land adjacent to the courthouse site will be used to replace the fair parking area taken up by the new courthouse.
Met all criteria
The judges said the courthouse site, which has 300 feet of frontage along Saltwell Road, met all the criteria used in selecting a spot for the court.
They said they wanted a convenient site situated centrally in the county, one with ample parking and with enough room to accommodate a single-story building. A single-story courthouse will be less expensive to build than a multi-story structure, the judges said.
Saltwell intersects nearby state Route 45, which is peppered with businesses and government and social services offices.
Traffic flow in the area is improving with the conclusion of a $1.5 million widening and improvement project on state Route 45 near Saltwell. The road project is federally and state-funded.
Before the deal to buy the property can close, the land must be annexed into the village so it will be eligible to receive municipal water and sewer service.
The annexation process for the property, which would include the approvals of the village and county commissioners, has yet to begin.
The judges said all indications are that an annexation effort will succeed.
Architect to be chosen
Now that a site has been selected, the judges will choose an architect to design the structure, which is expected to be about 20,000 square feet.
Construction could begin as early as next fall, the judges said.
The new courthouse will replace three municipal courthouses located in rented storefronts in Lisbon, Salem and East Palestine.
The county is converting to a central court site to improve efficiency and save money on staff, rent and utilities.
The undertaking does not affect the county's common pleas court, which is housed mostly in the county's historical courthouse in the center of the village.