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Board of Elections may get to keep current site

Discussions have been ongoing regarding a possible new location for the Washington County Board of Elections but one option may now be off the list, and the board may ultimately stay put.

The best contender for a new site for the board was 202 Davis Ave., Marietta, right next door to its current location. A meeting was held this week in which proposed renovations to the Davis Avenue facility were discussed and the estimate was more than the Washington County Commission anticipated. The proposed renovation costs were sent to the board of elections on Aug. 2.

The need to move offices began earlier this year with the merger of Washington County Job and Family Services and Children Services. Several departments needed to move to accommodate the newly merged agencies at 204 Davis Ave.

During the commission meeting Thursday morning, Commissioner Ron Feathers read a statement regarding his thoughts on proposed changes.

“In anticipation of the architect’s reports, I directed Chris Wilson of the building department and Karl Comstock of the maintenance department to conduct inspections of 202 Davis Ave.,” he said.

Wilson found the property was code compliant, but had some recommendations for improvements. Comstock also found the building in good working order and had suggestions to update the lighting, carpeting and outside drain rework.

“In light of this report, I am both surprised and disappointed with the proposed estimate of over $500,000 in necessary renovations provided to us by the board of elections and their contractor,” Feathers said. “I do not believe this figure is realistic and it is certainly not in keeping with the board of commissioners’ collective desire to keep the costs of any moves as negligible as possible.”

He said it would not be prudent at this time to move forward with a relocation there, “especially in light of the conflicting information provided by the county’s own building and maintenance departments.”

He then moved that the board of elections remain in its current location at 204 Davis Ave., Marietta.

Dennis Sipe, chairman for the board of elections, said initial concerns with moving next door included that the building was “chopped up.”

“For us, we need more open spaces because we tend to do things in large groups,” Sipe said.

He said their current office has a large space at the front of the building to accommodate people coming in to vote, as well as having plenty of storage space, which is split between secure and non-secure.

“We would have needed that sort of a setup in the new building,” he explained.

Pickering & Associates, who provided the construction proposal, gave them recommendations on what they would need to satisfy the ADA requirements of the secretary of state.

“We needed ADA parking, signage, ramp. The elevation isn’t correct. There’s no 18-inch clearance with a level pad that currently exists to the satisfaction of the secretary of state,” Sipe said. “In the design, they found a way to correct it. There’s some leveling in the parking lot for three ADA spots with van accessibility.”

He said they also needed secure areas for voting equipment.

“When we are in election activity, those are like live machines,” Sipe explained. “Technically, a person could go vote on them. We want to have zeroes when you take the machines out of storage.”

He said the machines are currently under a double-locked system.

“You can only get in when both keys are present and two people are there,” he said. “It’s required by pretty well every secretary of state.”

Sipe wasn’t at Thursday’s commission meeting, but he said the impression he got was that the board of elections was “staying put, which is fine with us.”

“We’ve worked out a system that works for us,” he said. “Staying allows us to plan for this election.”

Feathers recommended that no later than Dec. 31, the OSU Extension office move to the former JFS site on Gilman Avenue, Family and Children First Council move to the current Muskingum Drive site of the health department, the health department move to Gilman Avenue, the board of elections stay at 204 Davis Ave., and the Department of Jobs and Family Services be designated lead tenant at 204 Davis Ave., with some offices moved to 202 Davis Ave., so that the board of elections can stay where they are. The Ohio Means Jobs Center and attendant offices would also be placed at 202 Davis Ave.

After Feathers read his statement, Commissioner Kevin Ritter said it was a lot of information to digest.

“While I’m strongly inclined in this direction, I would move that we table this for a week so we have a week’s time for final comment before we make a decision,” Ritter added.

If the move for the board of elections had gone through, they were given until after the 2020 election to relocate.

Feathers said the only other location that was considered for the board of elections was the Gilman Avenue building where the commission is now located, but the board of elections dismissed it immediately.

Commission President David White said he agrees with Feathers.

“The statement, particularly the initial part of the statement, I’m 100 percent in agreement with all the outline that Mr. Feathers has given explaining his position,” he said. “Many of these things have been discussed and bandied about, but few have been publicly talked about in any way shape or form. This may come as new information to a lot of people who are sitting here in this room today. In light of that, I would concur that a week’s stay on making a decision on this is certainly in order.”

Feathers disagreed with tabling the motion, but White and Ritter voted for it and it will be discussed again at next week’s commission meeting.

Michele Newbanks can be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.

At a glance:

• A proposal was made to move the Washington County Board of Elections to 202 Davis Ave., Marietta.

• The board of elections had a study done of estimated costs for renovations.

• Renovation estimates from Pickering & Associates came in at more than $500,000.

Source: Washington County Board of Elections.

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