TRUMBULL COUNTY Health offices site strife goes on

The health department's roof began leaking anew Tuesday.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners should negotiate to put the health department in a building on North Park Avenue, the county prosecutor has advised.
Last week, county administrator Tony Carson recommended that commissioners reject a bid from Parker-Porter Ltd. to rent the health department new space on North Park because no one else bid on the lease.
Employees angry
The recommendation angered health department employees, who say conditions in their building have deteriorated since potentially toxic mold was discovered in May 2002, and commissioners delayed action.
Crumbling front steps on the building have been blocked by yellow police tape. During cold spells this winter, a troubled furnace couldn't raise temperatures in a first-floor health clinic to even 60 degrees, employees say.
Conditions in the county-owned building on Chestnut Street got worse Tuesday when melting snow and ice on the roof caused massive leaks into office space on the second floor, employees say.
Requests
In his letter to commissioners, Watkins said that others suggested that commissioners are considering rejecting the bid, based in part on the requests of people who may want the lease. One request Carson had on file was from Robert Thompson, owner of a building on state Route 193 in Vienna.
Carson said he recommended seeking bids a second time because he did not think it would be prudent to award a five-year lease that could be worth $500,000 based on only one bid.
"I believe that rejection of the bid without at least negotiating with the bidder ... would be improper," Watkins wrote.
Commissioners could win a legal battle if they rejected the bid and it wound up in court, Watkins said. However, this could mean that the health department would remain in its current building even longer, he said.
Longtime problem
The suitability of the building has been in doubt for several years now and this creates a potential liability for the county," Watkins said.
Commissioners are required to provide quarters to the health department. They have been promising to find the department a new building since deciding that the black mold in the basement would be too expensive to remove. It is impractical to renovate the building because the county could be required to make the building handicapped accessible, Carson said.
Employees frequently have to go outside to serve handicapped customers in their cars, said health commissioner Dr. James Enyeart.
Health department employees toured the North Park building last week and found it adequate to their needs, Enyeart said.
siff@vindy.com