MOUNT VERNON — The Mid East Ohio Regional Council will soon be moving into a permanent home. As first reported in the Mount Vernon News on April 3, the organization, which serves the MRDD boards of 18 Ohio counties, has been looking for a larger, permanent home which could be purchased on its behalf, with its own funds, by the county. The acquisition was finalized Monday morning after a review of real estate paperwork by the Knox County Commissioners and Knox County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McConville.
The new building at 1 Avalon Road will be purchased for $190,000, according to Knox County Commissioner Robert Wise. Although the county is purchasing the property, the funds for the purchase are being provided by MEORC. The county will then give the property and building to MEORC. This maneuver sidesteps a technicality in the Ohio Revised Code that states councils of goverment may own property, but does not give them the authority to purchase it themselves.
“We’re just happy that this building acquisition is going to allow us to have a long relationship here in Knox County,” said MEORC Executive Director Tim Spitzer, who praised the county commissioners and expressed gratitude for their help. Spitzer said the council’s current rented office on Columbus Road has 4,500 square feet of space; the Avalon Road location will have 9,200 square feet of space. He said that since the formation of MEORC the council has become an important support structure to MRDD boards, many of which have outsourced some of their functions to the regional council. As a result, the council has grown over the years.
