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Columbiana officials vote to buy land
The commissioners voted without making or paying for a plan.
LISBON — The Columbiana County commissioners now must find money to build a new facility at the northern edge of the village.
Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to buy 4.6 acres on Dickey Drive at a cost of $290,000.
Commissioners plan to move three agencies from the downtown: the county Department of Job Family Services, which has 160 workers, and the county elections and veterans services boards.
Larry Bowersock, the chairman of the elections board, told commissioners, “It’s the best location.”
Eileen Dray-Bardon, the director of the county’s JFS, thanked the commissioners for making the decision.
The elections board at 41 N. Park Ave. flooded during the March primary when a tennis ball got stuck in a roof drain. The JFS offices at 110 N. Nelson St. are in three separate areas that require workers to go outside to get to other offices within the agency.
Previous commissioners moved the JFS into the Nelson Street building as an emergency measure 30 years ago after its old headquarters burned.
The small veterans’ services is in a rented building on North Market Street.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the county has $1.2 million in grants toward the project. He estimated the new building could be built for between $6 million and $8 million. Rent from the JFS will help pay for construction.
Architect Robert A. Mastriana of The 4M Company of Boardman and architect Norma J. Stefanik of Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies had indicated that the JFS and elections board buildings could have been renovated at about half the cost of new construction.
Hoppel said both buildings would be torn down.
The commissioners never paid for a comprehensive plan. An initial review of the buildings made in March by A&I Studio in East Liverpool said there were strengths and weaknesses of three plans.
Besides renovation and a new site, another plan called for buying a closed grocery store east of the JFS, renovating or tearing down the store, and then tearing down the JFS building for parking. But that wouldn’t create enough parking spaces for workers and clients.
Hoppel said finding, “the 220 [needed] parking spots, that’s the tough issue.”
Commissioner Penny Traina added, “This was not an easy decision to make.”
Commissioner Dan Bing, said, however, “We’re ready to move forward.”
Stevie Halverstadt is helping to restore the oldest brick building in Ohio that is east of the courthouse. She has been pressing to keep the offices downtown. “I’m very disappointed with the commissioners for being so short-sighted,” she said.
Ryan Hillman, president of Lisbon Chamber of Commerce, had said that losing the county workers — who eat and shop downtown — would be a blow to the village’s economy. He couldn’t be reached to comment.
wilkinson@vindy.com