Officials approve funds for courthouse

The commissioners said they were lucky a window hasn't fallen on a pedestrian.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The Columbiana County Courthouse is on its way to an overhaul.
County commissioners approved $2.1 million in contracts Wednesday for a variety of work.
Replacement of large windows in rotting frames, however, are not yet part of the work.
The project began as an overhaul of the two courtrooms on the second story of the three-story courthouse. Court officials said surveys of jurors showed they were not pleased with the cramped jury rooms and allied facilities.
But the project will include work that will improve and protect the entire courthouse.
The flat courthouse roof that often leaks into the third and second floors will be replaced at a cost of $139,000.
The project will also include improved heating, cooling and plumbing at a cost of $407,352.
An additional $512,090 will be spent to improve the electrical system and court's security system, computer operations and the public address system.
The security improvements will include the entry to courthouse and the entrance to the second floor. All people entering the courthouse are searched and the second floor is guarded.
The work will also allow for video arraignments of prisoners at the county jail west of Lisbon.
Robert A. Mastriana of The 4M Company in Boardman has been advising the judges and the commissioners on the bids.
No one had bid on replacing the windows but Mastriana said he has since learned of a company that may be able to fix or replace them.
Problems from windows
The windows have created two problems. They are not energy-efficient, which triggers excessive heating in the courtrooms in winter. And, some of the wooden sills have rotted.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said as some of the sills rotted, the huge windows slid down in the frames, leaving a four-inch gap at the top.
The commissioners said they are lucky that a window has not fallen out of a frame and landed on a pedestrian.
Mastriana declined to say how much he thought the window repairs might cost so as not to affect any bids on the work. The courthouse has 118 windows.
The bids for the other work were lower than expected, however, so there should be funds to do the work. The project is being funded with a low-cost loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The work, expected to begin in August, will take 10 to 12 months. Earlier estimates had been for much longer periods.
Judge David Tobin has moved most of his hearings to the new county municipal court just north of Lisbon.
Judge C. Ashley Pike, who has been overseeing the bidding, said he was pleased with the results.
Judge Pike said that about 80 percent of the work has been completed on a courtroom in the county's juvenile court building that he will use during the renovations.
wilkinson@vindy.com