Commissioners OK annexation of land to be site of courthouse

Two contractors were hired for the project.
LISBON -- Nearly three acres on which the Columbiana County Municipal Courthouse will be built is now part of the village.
County commissioners approved Wednesday the village's annexing the Saltwell Road property, which formerly was part of Center Township.
The annexation allows the nearly three-acre parcel to receive water and sewer services from Lisbon.
Village council approved the annexation earlier this week. The commissioners' approval was the final step in the annexation process.
Also Wednesday, commissioners authorized hiring two contractors to be involved in the $3.4 million project to build the new municipal courthouse.
Larry Murphy Dump Truck Service Inc., Beloit, was hired for $341,946 to handle site preparation and paving work.
University Electric Inc., Youngstown, was hired for $19,995, to do preparatory electrical work.
Other contractors for the project, including the general contractor, have yet to be hired.
What's planned
Site preparation work for the 22,600-square-foot brick building is expected to begin later this fall.
Construction will get under way in earnest in ensuing months.
The new courthouse, which is expected to be done late in 2004, will not replace the county's historical 19th-century courthouse in downtown Lisbon.
The older building houses county common pleas court and other county offices.
The new structure will be home for the county's municipal court, which is now spread among three storefront locations in Lisbon, Salem and East Palestine.
Combining the municipal court into one building is expected to save money and make the municipal court operation more efficient, officials have said.
To pay for the new courthouse, the county is relying on fees paid by defendants in criminal and traffic cases.