LISBON — Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck said Wednesday that commissioners are looking into what, if anything, can be done about an alleged unsightly property in West Township.

He said the property in question is located at the corner of Rochester Road and U.S. Route 30 which is run as a junk yard and includes a house.

In October, West Township Trustees Dale Lowmiller and Ray Davis asked the commissioners for advice on how to deal with problem junk yards. At the time, they said they had contacted both the Sheriff’s Office and the prosecutor’s office and wanted to know their options.

West Township doesn’t have zoning.

Halleck said commissioners took a little field trip on the way home from an out-of-county meeting earlier this week to check it out, walking around and looking at what they could see. They also spoke with some people in the neighborhood.

“We’re going to do all we can to help them out there,” he said.

According to Halleck, representatives of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency may be coming to the county to check on the flooding situation on Black Road in Center Township where the road is closed, so maybe they can look at this issue, too. Black Road between Mattix and DeSellem roads in Center Township remains closed indefinitely near a former landfill property where deep water is across both lanes.

During the commissioners’ meeting Wednesday, Commissioner Roy Paparodis mentioned attending the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA) meeting, the same meeting Halleck had attended, where the guest speaker talked about downtown development.

Commissioner Tim Ginter talked about two recent meetings he attended, including the Columbiana County Health District Advisory Council and the Family and Children First Council.

For those who don’t know, he explained the FCFC is comprised of 39 members representing various non-profit, government, education and health agencies, along with three parents, to form a partnership to help coordinate services for families in Columbiana County. Families can go to one agency and learn about services available at all agencies.

According to Ginter, a representative of 30 FCFC counties said Columbiana County is the best model in the state for these types of services.

In other business, commissioners accepted bids opened at the county engineer’s office for a guardrail replacement project to replace guardrail on East Liverpool Road in St. Clair Township.

The low bidder was PDK Construction, Inc. of Pomeroy for a total bid of $278,583. Other bidders were Lake Erie Construction Company of Norwalk, $283,120 and M P Dory Company of Columbus, $298,449. The engineer’s office will review the bids and make a recommendation to award the contract at a future meeting.

The commissioners also accepted a subdivision performance bond from Prestige Properties of East Liverpool.

Following the recommendation of county Department of Job and Family Services Director Rachel Ketterman, commissioners approved the 2025 Government Services Lease agreement between the commissioners and DJFS representing a slight increase of $7,000 for the year. The agency will pay rent of $472,418 for the year for use of the building from Feb. 1, 2025 to Jan. 31, 2026 in monthly installments.

Commissioners also approved increases to the contract ceilings for services through the senior services levy, with an increase from $15,000 to $45,000 for FTC Cleaning LLC for homemaker and chore services and an increase from $10,000 to $30,000 for Clean Choice Maids for homemaker services. Both contracts expire Dec. 31. Ketterman said this will enable both companies to provide more services. Also approved was an increase in the unit rate for the diversion services contract with Juvenile Court from $34.26 to $35.84. She said the increase was needed due to pay increases during the year.

The next meeting of commissioners will be 9 a.m. March 26 in the downtown courthouse.