Architects seek new DJFS design work

LISBON - Nine architectural firms submitted proposals to prepare preliminary construction plans for the new Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services building.

County commissioners accepted the proposal packages Wednesday, which was the deadline for submissions. The proposals were referred to a committee which will analyze the information and whittle the list down to three or four companies to interview.

All three commissioners will serve on the committee, along with DJFS Director Eileen Dray-Bardon, county Engineer Bert Dawson and county Assistant Engineer Bob Durbin.

Firms submitting proposals included Thomas Keller Architect of Canfield, Stephen Sharp of McCall Sharp Architecture of Springfield, GPD Group of Akron, A&I Studio of East Liverpool, Strollo Architects of Columbiana, City Architecture Inc. of Cleveland, Baker, Bednar & Associates Inc. of Warren, MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown and Olsavsky Jaminet Architects of Youngstown.

Commissioner Jim Hoppel said they had no estimate for the cost of the services, with the price to be negotiated. Plans call for having the contract in place by October this year.

The legal ad described the project objective as the preparation of

"a needs assessment study and preliminary construction plans" for a multi-story building to house the DJFS and a single-story wing to house the county Board of Elections and Veterans Services. Firms had to include a statement of qualifications to outline information about the staff, their expertise and experience, their availability, equipment, references and previous work completed for the county.

Both MS Consultants Inc. and Strollo Architects have worked for the county previously.

Hoppel noted the commissioners may conduct a separate request for proposals for an architect to prepare the final plans for construction. When asked if the firm doing the preliminary plans will be asked to help secure funding for the project, he said the committee may discuss funding with them.

After many years of talking about the need for a new DJFS building, commissioners made some decisions this year to get the project moving, including requesting land proposals for a site and then making the purchase.

The commissioners exercised an option to buy more than 4.6 acres of land on Dickey Drive off of Saltwell Road for $290,000 in April after spending several months weighing options which included rehabilitating the current DJFS location in downtown Lisbon which has been deemed inadequate.

The commissioners used $247,500 from a federal grant to cover most of the purchase price, with the remaining $42,000 coming from a $1 million state grant secured for the project. The commissioners will continue looking for additional funding for the project which had at one time been estimated with a $6 million price tag, although no exact numbers have been determined.

In other business, the commissioners renewed the lease agreement for the Veterans Service Commission office with the owner of the building at 966 N. Market St., Lisbon, for three years at an increased cost of $1,900 per month. The lease previously cost $1,650 per month. The contract takes effect Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31, 2011.

Commissioner Penny Traina said they limited the contract to three years because they're hoping to be in the new building by then.

Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net