MOUNT VERNON — The first order of business at Thursday’s meeting of the Knox County Commissioners was to take up the continuing saga of office space for the Knox County Title Department and the local Deputy Registrar’s Office of the BMV. Both are housed in the same building as the Ohio State Highway Patrol license exam office. On hand were Clerk of Courts Mary Jo Hawkins, BMV Deputy Registrar Sam Barone and building owner Tom Sutton.
The center of the discussion were plans drawn up by the Ohio Department of Public Safety for renovations to the building.
“What we have here is an alternate proposal by the Ohio Department of Public Safety,” said Commissioner Allen Stockberger. “Some of the things that come to mind that are pushing this drive for an enhanced facility are building code compliance and [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance. The present facility was set up in 1989 or 1990, and has served the county well. But it needs some compliance upgrades.”
Discussion centered around cost and the amount of space given to each entity. Barone was concerned about the size of the common area, which supplies access to the three offices. The common area also includes restroom facilities to serve the three offices and the dance studio, which occupies the back space of the building. The cost of renovating the common area would be shared three ways. The cost of renovating the area with the restroom facilities would be shared four ways.
Hawkins was not satisfied with the space given her for the title office, saying it was still too narrow. Barone was concerned with the cost of renting the facility with the increased space and square footage costs.
“It’s going to triple our cost,” he said.
Barone proposed the county look into whether the rents paid by the three offices could go toward paying for a new building. He felt a new design done from scratch could include efficiencies not available from renovating an existing space.
“I’m not so sure that if we were designing from scratch that we couldn’t design it more efficiently than 5,000 or 6,000 square feet,” Barone said. “If we are designing from a footprint that has no limits and no boundaries right now where we can economize hallways there is a possibility we could design something that is tighter and more efficient.”
Stockberger gave Barone the task of seeing if he could find someone to create a more efficient design.
Doug Givens also appeared before the commissioners in the morning session seeking a resolution from the commissioners.
“The request that I have is for you to pass the resolution I need to file the application for the 2009 agriculture easement purchase program,” he said.
The resolution from a local government body is required for participation in the program. The commissioners unanimously passed the resolution.
In the afternoon session, the commissioners met with Knox County Sheriff David Barber. Barber’s only item of business was for the commissioners to approve the renewal of the contract with Dr. William Pomputius as the doctor for the county jail. The contract did not include an increase in compensation. The commissioners approved the contract.
It was also announced that Pechiney Plastic Packaging Inc., owner of what is called the American Can property, petitioned the commissioners for an expedited Type 1 annexation into the city of Mount Vernon. The commissioners approved the petition, which releases the property; the city will now annex it.
The commissioners also held an executive session in the afternoon to discuss dog pound personnel matters. After coming out of executive session, the commissioners unanimously accepted the resignation of John Groseclose from the dog pound, effective immediately. Stockberger had no comment on matters discussed in the executive session, other than to say Groseclose was given the option to resign.
