MEADVILLE — Crawford County taxpayers may have to wait several months before they find out if the county’s three commissioners have put them on the hook for a $25 million expansion plan.

That, and the fact that two of the three commissioners favors at least some significant spending to renovate county government’s offices, was the big news coming out of a public meeting Tuesday night in Meadville. The meeting reviewed preliminary plans that would divide county government between the current courthouse and a renovated former industrial site.

“We have to do something,” said Commissioner Chairman Francis Weiderspahn Jr. following the public meeting.

In January, an all-volunteer Community Advisory Committee on county government space needs suggested the county split current courthouse functions between the courthouse on Meadville’s Diamond Park and the former Talon Inc. manufacturing facility on upper Arch Street in Meadville at a projected cost of $25.3 million.

That recommendation and several other options — including expanding the present courthouse and building an entirely new facility — came after a months long study by the advisory committee that began in late summer 2011. The committee’s recommendation and other options were presented at a series of meetings across the county in February.

A more refined proposal building on the advisory committee’s recommendation was presented Tuesday night for public input at the William J. Douglass Conference Center in Meadville to a crowd of only about 25.

Those refinements included more detailed overall site plans for each building, including secured entrances at each location, parking plans and office locations within each building.

The cost of renovating the former Talon facility on Arch Street and using the courthouse as well still is estimated at $25.3 million, said Dick Fox of Weber Murphy Fox, the county’s architectural consultant.

If the present board of commissioners moves forward with the project, it could go to bid in 2013, Fox said. The Talon site would be renovated first followed by the courthouse in 2014, if the project is a go, Fox said.

The previous board of commissioners purchased the former Talon site for $250,000 in late February 2011. That board cited the possibility of using the Talon site to expand courthouse offices that were overcrowded and outdated.

Weiderspahn reiterated something needs to be done to eliminate overcrowded conditions at the courthouse.

“I’ve said all along it’s the most economical and practical (of the various options),” Weiderspahn said. “If we had more money I’d like to keep everything at the Diamond, but that would be about $45 million to $50 million.”

However, Weiderspahn also said the county’s finances were key in moving the project forward, if at all.

Commissioner Jack Lynch agreed.

“We don’t have the financial piece down,” Lynch said following Tuesday’s meeting. “We don’t know what our bond rating is (to be able to borrow money) and the cost of money — that’s huge. We have to know what we can afford.”

The financial portion of the project is expected to be ready sometime in September, Lynch said.

Like Weiderspahn, Lynch said something has to be done to the present courthouse structure.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Lynch said. “We’ve not had a capital budget for replacing things like roofs and rooftop units (heating and air conditioning units) for years.”

Both Weiderspahn and Lynch expect commissioners to put the matter to a vote — possibly in September, but possibly in the fourth quarter of the year.

“I don’t think anyone of us is in favor of doing nothing,” said Lynch.

Commissioner C. Sherman Allen was absent from Tuesday night’s meeting traveling to Ohio and then was to go to the annual Ag Progress Days today at Penn State University.



Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.