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Commissioners offer to build new office for Veterans Service Commission
trumbull county commissioners
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County commissioners have offered to build a new building for the county Veterans Service Commission, which would like to get out of its present offices on North Park Avenue as soon as possible.
The commission had planned to look into leasing space in the downtown area, but commissioners may have persuaded it to change plans.
County commissioners offered to build the Veterans Service a new office on space the county will soon acquire near the former First Place Bank on East Market Street.
The Veterans Service Commission needs more office space than the 2,800 square feet it uses in the county-owned Job and Family Services Building, and it needs more accessible parking, said Herman K. Breuer, the commission’s director.
The commission has 10 parking spaces behind its current building, but sometimes access to those spaces is cut off, and then veterans have to cross North Park Avenue to get to the office, Breuer said. That can be dangerous for older veterans, he noted.
Adrian Biviano, Trumbull County auditor, told commission members during a meeting Tuesday that the cost to build a new building will be close to the same as the cost to rent — about $36,000 per year for 4,000 square feet — because of the low cost for the county to borrow money.
Breuer said the one concern he has with a new building is the length of time it will take for it to be ready.
Commissioners Paul Heltzel, Frank Fuda and Dan Polivka said the project will take nine to 12 months to build at a cost of about $400,000, which the county would pay back over about 20 years.
Fuda said the commissioners believe owning is a better option in a lot of cases because then the landlord can’t raise the price and the commission can design the building to perfectly suit their needs.
Within a week or two, the county plans to close on the purchase of the former First Place Bank property, which includes about 22 parcels of land, including nearly a city block of parking lots and other vacant space.
After the meeting, Breuer said he believes the commission will probably opt for the new building, but the commission meets again Thursday and will discuss it further.