Sep 20, 2019 4 min read

Planned work on the boiler and sprinkler system in the downtown Washington building the county purchased last month are likely to exceed $100,000.

Washington County Commissioners Chairman Larry Maggi acknowledged Thursday that the county is seeking bids for repairs to the boiler in the three-story Caldwell Building, across Main Street from the courthouse.

Officials knew about problems with that equipment and other aspects of the building for months before they finally bought the property.

Maggi said work on that and some other needed repairs to the HVAC system would probably cost around $95,000. The price to fix the sprinklers is “being negotiated” but will be “somewhere in the $20,000 range.” There are some other improvements, like installing fiber-optic wire and moving some walls, that also had to be completed as part of plans to move the district attorney’s office to the second floor.

The county plans to keep its new voting machines in the basement of the three-story building, which was constructed in 1873.

“It’s not an easy process because it’s an old building,” Maggi said.

Harold Ivery of Municipal Consulting Service said the county applied for an occupancy permit, “and I actually did a cursory review of the building.” There were a few things that needed to be addressed” before it could be approved, added Ivery, who handles building inspections for the city of Washington. Certified professionals tested the spinkler system and identified work it needed, he said.

The lack of a valid occupancy permit didn’t block plans to move the main location of the DA’s office to the structure’s second floor after the county closed on the $400,000 purchase from owner George Sprowls early last month ahead of the early swearing-in of Common Pleas Judge Traci McDonald on Aug. 30.

Officials initially said the main section of the DA’s office was to move there on the weekend of Aug. 24 to make room in the courthouse, but prosecutors asked for an injunction delaying the move until new security measures were implemented and the building was made compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The litigation ended with a negotiated agreement between that office and the commissioners. There is no new date for moving the office.

Maggi insisted the supposed deadlines involved in the plans “have kind of been artificial,” and the specifics of the move were up to the courts.

“You had a lot of people talking about this,” he added. “We worked together and came up with a plan. “Those deadlines didn’t come from the commissioners’ office.”

An email on Aug. 9 from Scott Fergus, director of county administration, to District Attorney Gene Vittone detailed the Aug. 24 date and other plans for the move. Fergus began the message by writing that “the Commissioners and Courts have signed off on the email below.”

The email was among the exhibits that Vittone’s office filed with its injunction request.

Now, Maggi said officials want to avoid rushing through plans to make sure they get fair prices on contracts.

“We’re trying to make sure we put it out to bid,” he said. “That’s why we’re not on breakneck speed to get it done.”

County officials considered purchasing the building late last year for $370,000, but that proposal never came to fruition. In November, a county consultant’s report estimated the remaining useful life at “not less than 35 years” with adequate maintenance.

But the consultants did recommend replacing equipment and making upgrades throughout much of the structure.

For example, the report said the single gas-fired boiler was operating but had “heavy corrosion in its “pumps/valves/piping systems.” At the time, the sprinkler system “had not been inspected since 2012 and it is unknown if it is working properly.”

Maggi said the county weighed a number of options – including other property owners who wanted to sell or give potential office buildings to the county – and sought “the best deal for the taxpayers.”