LISBON — An empty lot where the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services previously stood will become home for a new county archives storage building.

County commissioners recently authorized Commissioner Tim Weigle to sign a preliminary design agreement with ms consultants, inc. of Youngstown to design the new structure slated to house old county records and determine a probable cost for construction.

The county-owned lot is bordered by East Chestnut Street to the north, North Nelson Avenue to the west and North Jefferson Street to the east.

Referring to the building as a records retention facility, Weigle said any records the county is required by law to keep will be moved to the new building from the various locations where they’re currently stored, such as the basement of the county jail and Iron Mountain, an underground secured storage facility in Pennsylvania.

We’re going to save some money,” Weigle said.

The commissioners pay at least $14,000 per year to Iron Mountain and another county office pays $15,000 per year in storage fees at the location. Weigle also said there have been broken pipes in the basement of the jail, putting some records at risk. The new building will allow all the records to be kept safely in one location in the county in Lisbon.

According to Weigle, plans call for construction of a two-story 26,000-square-foot, climate-controlled, secure block and brick building with a dry chemical fire suppression system, a commercial shredder and office space.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to put out for bids in March,” he said.

He also said the county will be working with the Columbiana County Archives and Research Center so the non-profit will have access to the old records.

In other business during the recent meeting, the commissioners approved American Rescue Plan Act expenses, awarding the county recorder $40,000 for a document redaction project for public documents and providing $600,000 to county Juvenile/Probate Court for a software/hardware update mandated by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding involving the county Emergency Management Agency and Ohio Homeland Security Region 5 regarding the Region 5 Collapse Search and Rescue Team, which includes members of the Salem Fire Department. County EMA Director Peggy Clark will serve on the advisory board.

Other business included giving permission to the county engineer to utilize professional services in the maintenance, repairs, construction of roads, bridges, culverts and other structure in the county in 2024 and agreeing to the release of $40,000 from a letter of credit held for completion of the roadway for The Field of Fisher Farms second and third addition development in Calcutta.

Contracts approved for the county DJFS included the Community Center for the Deaf for interpreting services from Dec. 20, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2024 and a healthy aging grant amendment for MTJC, Inc. for home repairs, increasing the contract ceiling by $20,000 to a total of $55,000. The contract period ends June 20, 2024.