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Trumbull commissioners approve design services relating to building purchase
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Trumbull County commissioners say Phillips/Sekanick Architects already has begun to design the ways the First Place Bank building on East Market Street would be used to house county offices if the county ends up buying it.
On Wednesday, the commissioners approved spending $11,915 with Phillips/Sekanick to have it carry out design services and space planning for the building, 185 E. Market St.
“We want to make sure the building meets our needs” before the purchase is formalized, Commissioner Frank Fuda said.
The commissioners have a statement of qualifications on file for Phillips/Sekanick, and it has been deemed the most-qualified company to provide the services, the commissioners said in their meeting agenda.
Last week, the commissioners passed a resolution indicating that they are in negotiations with First Place Bank to acquire most of the building, which has been company’s headquarters.
The county would use the space — about 50,000 square feet — for at least two things: records storage for the recorder’s office and other departments, and office space for the planning commission and building inspection department.
Commissioners have wanted to move the planning commission and building inspection from the Wean Building on North Park Avenue for several years because of the poor condition of the Wean site.
Storage space in the basement of the county owned Stone Building, where records maintained by the county recorder and probate court were kept, flooded last summer and were moved to temporary quarters.
Talmer Bank and Trust acquired First Place Bank’s assets this year after First Place filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Company officials confirmed this week that it is in negotiations with the county and added that it will keep a banking center in Warren regardless of whether it sells the East Market Street building.
In other business, commissioners authorized the purchase of eight stainless-steel sinks for fifth-floor cells at the county jail at a cost of $5,524.
Fuda said the sinks will replace ones that inmates have torn down. The new sinks should be more difficult to vandalize. The damage occurred in an area occupied by inmates with mental-health issues, Fuda said.
Because of a lack of mental-health facilities in Ohio, the jail is having to house more inmates with mental-health issues, Fuda noted.
The damage to the sinks allowed water to seep into a first-floor office area last week, causing problems for workers there and requiring the worker in the main lobby area to have to relocate temporarily, Fuda said.