MAHONING COMMISSION Reese says it's time to take action on CSB's request for new building

The Children Services Board has been patient, the commissioner said.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners say the children services board has waited long enough for a new office building.
"I think it's time to move forward," said Commissioner Ed Reese.
The CSB has been waiting some two years for construction of a new building to begin. The agency, which has about 128 full-time employees, is housed in the county's South Side Annex on Market Street, near Southern Boulevard in the city's Uptown district.
Board member Loretta J. Neill said the CSB has money set aside to pay for the building, estimated to cost between $4 million and $5 million. She asked whether commissioners intend to get started soon.
She said it's not fair to keep the agency in the run-down annex building indefinitely.
Reese said commissioners had waited because there was discussion about putting up an office building to house several county agencies, including the CSB. That option has apparently fallen by the wayside, so it's time to refocus on a standalone building for CSB, he said.
"The children services board has been more than patient, but it's been long enough," Reese said. "We need to make a decision and stick with it."
He said CSB needs a new building that will improve privacy and confidentiality for clients, and is accessible to handicapped people. The county plans to put up a building on West Federal Street, in an area known as the Masters block.
The vacant Masters block is made up of several buildings, including the former Masters Tuxedo store. The buildings will be razed to make way for the new CSB offices.
Sales tax
Reese said commissioners should make the building one of their top priorities, even though it could jeopardize efforts to renew a county sales tax next year.
The CSB gets its funding through a property tax levy and state and federal children services programs. Commissioners have been chopping spending from their general fund departments because of stagnant cash flow.
The bulk of the county's general fund revenue comes from a pair of 0.5 percent sales taxes, one of which expires at the end of next year.
"It's hard to tell people that the county needs money when they see you putting up a new building, even though that building isn't coming out of the general fund," Reese said. "That's the political reality of the situation."
Tax abatements
Commissioners also approved 15-year tax abatements for Cintas Corp. and BLS Commerce Ltd., both of which are building new facilities at Youngstown Commerce Park in North Jackson.
Robert Herold Jr., branch manager, said Cintas will build a $7.5 million facility for processing, distribution and cleaning of commercial uniforms. It will close facilities in Alliance and Austintown, and consolidate those operations in the new building.
Herold said the company plans to employ about 175 people within the next three years, including 65 who will transfer to the new facility from Austintown. Some also will move here from Alliance, though he was not sure how many.
BLS is building a $720,000, 24,000-square-foot warehouse adjacent to a similar facility it built in the North Jackson industrial park some 10 years ago.
Spokesman Lee Burdman said the company will lease space in the warehouse to other tenants, who in turn are expected to hire about 25 employees. He said 38 people work in the warehouse that was built 10 years ago. That facility also is leased to multiple tenants.
Thomas Presby of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber said the abatements are for real property only. Cintas was given a 55 percent abatement, and BLS was given a 40 percent abatement.
bjackson@vindy.com