YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners this week approved a resolution spending up to $2.05 million for renovations to the former Youngstown Developmental Center on Countyline Road in Austintown.
They also unanimously approved the Western Reserve Port Authority to serve as project manager for the renovation of the facility now to be known as the Campus of Care.
Sarah Lown, public finance manager for the authority, said this week the authority secured an engineering and architectural consultant to develop plans, specifications and bid packages for the renovations to the 10 buildings containing 100,000 square feet of space.
The renovations will involve mechanical, electric, plumbing and aesthetic improvements. The consultant hopes to take the work out to bid in June.
One of the tenants, Alta Behavioral Health, which runs the Head Start programs in Mahoning County, wants to be up and running in the facility by July, but other work will continue after that.
Lown said the goal is to have all 10 buildings occupied by year’s end. All of the organizations planning to work out of the campus are in social services, behavioral health and disability services.
At a later point, the commissioners also will appoint the port authority to serve as property manager.
Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said the money for the renovations will come from Mahoning County borrowing and grants — with the county hoping the state will provide about $1.5 million of that.
The facilities, which are on the border between Mahoning and Trumbull counties, are expected to serve people from both counties.
Though the campus has been vacant since 2017 when the state closed the center, the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities maintained it, recently investing $1.1 million to fix the underground power system.
The commissioners also on Thursday approved giving $50,000 to the Area Agency on Aging II / Direction Home of Eastern Ohio Inc. to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Traficanti said $17,000 of the money will be used to enable the agency to provide personal protective equipment to Mahoning County long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, which is located on North Meridian Road, is a private, nonprofit organization that helps older adults and people with disabilities maintain their health, happiness and independence, according to its website.
Among its better known roles is to serve as ombudsman to protect the rights of individuals receiving long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
The commissioners also authorized the award of $106,405 to Stitle Construction Corp. for the Beloit Village Park restroom project.
The commissioners also authorized payments to two companies that provided cleaning and sanitizing for the county administration building, courthouse and Oakhill Renaissance building because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Payments of $6,247 were made to Servpro for services April 9, 10, 23 and 24 and $17,050 to Service Master for services April 11, 18 and 24.