Officials select president

Commissioners OK more spending on courthouse

At their first meeting of 2018, Lorain County commissioners elected Ted Kalo as president of the board Jan. 8.

Commissioner Matt Lundy was elected vice president of the board.

In other news, the commissioners approved an additional $73,528 in expenditures on the Old County Courthouse renovation project which to date has already cost the county more than $5.3 million.

County Administrator James Cordes said the money is necessary due to issues with the elevator in the building, the need for more fence rentals and continued issues with the water lines.

The commissioners are paying Sona Construction $59,444 for work on the elevator system, Cordes said.

“The old elevator that was in there was, obviously antiquated, and we had to build a new elevator within the shell of the building,” he said.

Initially, the construction crew had used the original hydraulic system from the old elevator system, but an inspection discovered a pinhole in the piston that runs the system and it had to be replaced, Cordes said.

According to Cordes $8,108 was paid to Mosser Construction for additional changes in waterlines for the courthouse, and $5,976 to N&N Construction for the rental of additional fencing around the building.

Also, the commissioners

approved a deed of gift to the Lorain County Historical Society of three hinges, two grates and two elaborate newels that were found in the building.

The project is scheduled for completion this spring and Cordes hinted there may be a major announcement next week about additions being made to the grounds.

“I’m very excited about that and I want to have a really good extended open house for the public to come walk through the building,” he said.

Also, the county saved $60,454.89 on a recent project laying blacktop at the Lorain County Airport,

but Cordes said that money will go directly to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“We talked to them, we discussed with them, we tried to come up with another project and they just didn’t want to do that,” he said. “It was great that we saved $60,000, but we didn’t keep it here for us.”

Cordes said giving the money back keeps the county in good standing with the administration which may open the door for additional projects being funded in the future.

Also, the city of Elyria has resubmitted its intention to annex a portion of Eaton Township near the

corner of state Route 57 and Chestnut Ridge Road.

In October, the commissioners denied a previous request to annex the land, citing an illegible map of the area to be annexed that was submitted with the petition.

At the time of the initial attempt, Eaton Township Trustee Jason Monschein said the proposed annexation would create an illegal island of Eaton Township property in a sea of Elyria.

Also at the time, Kalo said he believed the city and developers would try again in the future.

“Told you they’d be back,” he said at the Jan. 8 meeting drawing laughs.

Kalo