WARREN RESOLUTION Council wants JFS to stay downtown

Improvements for Packard Music Hall also are on the agenda.
WARREN -- City council will jump on the bandwagon this week in an effort to keep several hundred jobs in the central business district.
A resolution centered on the merging of Trumbull County Department of Job & amp; Family Services and Child Support Enforcement Agency specifically expresses the city's desire that Trumbull County commissioners keep the jobs downtown.
"Obviously, we're urging the commissioners to locate the office in the downtown first, and at the very least in the city," said Mayor Michael O'Brien, himself an ex-commissioner. "Historically, a county office as large as that has been in the county seat, and quite frankly has always been downtown."
The resolution will be introduced Wednesday by all council members and follows a half-months' worth of rallying to keep the jobs downtown by businesses in the district, council members and Warren Redevelopment & amp; Planning Corp.
The next day, Thursday, Trumbull County will open proposals from developers seeking to house the merged agency. Other than looking for a large space with lots of parking, the only other key requirement is that the location remain in Trumbull County.
Trumbull County wants to lease 76,000 to 77,000 square feet to house more than 250 employees for the "One Stop Center and Child Enforcement" operation.
The current lease with Kleese Development for Job & amp; Family Services offices at 150 S. Park Ave. and 147 W. Market St. expires this year. The county's Child Support Enforcement Agency is now at 106 High St. N.W. in the county-owned Stone Building.
Factors to be considered include convenience to the predominantly urban clientele, travel time for staff in the field and moving costs to be paid by the agency.
Building
One issue with staying downtown, officials have noted, is finding an available property with the required space. Warren would like to find a tenant for the Gibson Building on East Market Street, but at present, it's not big enough for the county agencies.
O'Brien said the owner, Jack Gibson, is willing to add floors to his building.
Gibson Real Estate Management Ltd. built the $4 million three-story office building in 1997 to house a Bureau of Workers' Compensation office. The 39,000-square-foot building is now mostly empty because the BWC moved its employees to Youngstown in a cost-saving measure.
The specifications that Phillips/Sekanick Architects have prepared for Trumbull County allow for renovations to existing structures to accommodate the county offices. Gibson has taken out a specification packet.
The current landlord, Kleese, has offered to give the county the buildings if it makes a five-year commitment to stay.
The county seeks a 10-year lease with a flat rate per square foot and an option to buy whatever building it selects.
Also Wednesday, a resolution before council will execute agreements for funding some improvements at W.D. Packard Music Hall with $100,000 from the state's capital budget.
Planned are to renovate restrooms, create a road manager's office, a break room for the Packard Band, and a study of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for energy savings.
Also planned are installation of new tile and carpet, window and counter replacements, handicapped accessibility improvements and other changes.