State set to close BMV in Hubbard

June 10, 2010 at 12:08a.m.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

hubbard

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles license center in Truck World Plaza will close at the end of this month.

Fred Hanley, Hubbard Township trustee, said trustees sent a letter of protest to Gov. Ted Strickland’s office. “We haven’t gotten any response,” he said. Hanley said he didn’t think many people knew about the closing.

Hanley said the trustees’ letter pointed out the closing would create an inconvenience for residents and take jobs out of Trumbull County. “Its proximity to I-80 and the state line make it a convenient place,” he said.

Roberta “Robin” Gibson operates the Hubbard Township BMV at 6965 Truck World Boulevard, which employs six people. Its services are titles, watercraft, driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, notary and Webcheck for fingerprinting. Gibson, a deputy registrar, said the state doesn’t permit her to comment to the press and referred inquiries to the state agency.

Lindsey Bohrer, spokesman for the BMV, which is part of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said private contractors “do business for the state” in operating the bureaus. Bohrer said the BMV sites are evaluated according to the number of transactions, population and proximity to other BMV locations.

Bohrer said BMV likes to see 40,000 transactions or more annually. She offered these figures for Hubbard: 37,509 from June 2009 to May 2010; 36,338 from June 2008 to May 2009; and 36,923 from June 2007 to May 2008. “Hubbard has performed under the 40,000 number,” she said.

She also noted that other BMV locations — 2950 Mahoning Ave. and 667 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown; 227 Elm Road NE, Warren; and 5555 Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles — are within a 15 to 20 mile radius of Hubbard.

Bohrer said Gibson bid on and got the Struthers BMV site in Struthers Plaza on Fifth Street, Struthers. Bohrer said Gibson tried to renew the lease there but couldn’t and was unable to find another suitable location in Struthers. That site is closing June 26. Gibson will operate a BMV at 3057 Center Road, Poland.

Bohrer said about one-third of deputy registrars are up for renewal every year and three-year contracts are usually awarded.