County officials discussed how to handle both ground contamination on East State Street as well as structural deficiencies with the new county garage at the Athens County commissioners meeting Thursday.
Athens County Engineer Jeff Maiden said he is in the process of receiving proposals from three different companies to test for contamination at the site of the old county garage, 555 East State St.
The county is required by the Ohio Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations to conduct a Tier I environmental study on the area surrounding the contamination, according to a letter from the bureau to the county.
The test is estimated to cost between $7,500 and $25,000, Maiden said.
The type and scope of work necessary to clean up the contamination will not be determined until Maiden receives the proposals, he said.
Though a 2006 environmental test by Hometown Development LLC revealed contamination on the property, the county is still required to conduct further testing.
“My understanding of it is (the 2006 study) was done when they built CVS,” Maiden said. “CVS had no legal obligation to do this.”
The proposals should be in within a few weeks, Maiden added.
Maiden is also seeking structural updates to the county engineer’s office, now located on state Route 33.
The new county garage lacks several partitions and restrooms as well as effective heating, which were in the original blueprint but were not built because of a lack of funding, Maiden said.
Other updates proposed to the engineer’s office include an office and a conference room.
“If I have a construction meeting, you might have 12 to 15 members,” Maiden said. “It’s customary for a chief executive to have his own office.”
Commissioners are allowed to put up to $300,000 toward the county engineer’s office, but historically, the county has not done so.
“We’ve never had extra money to do that every year,” Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said. “Archie (Stanley, former Athens County engineer) always sent us requests for a new truck or something every year and we never gave him the money.”
The commissioners, who are responsible for the building, do have the power to impose guidelines on county buildings, Eliason added.
Athens County Commissioner Charlie Adkins suggested using some of the wood already being chopped down by county employees to refurbish the building.
Commissioners will not be giving any money to the engineer’s office at this time, Eliason said.
The new county engineer’s office is one of the county’s least energy efficient buildings, Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel said.
“(The county engineer’s office) is our newest building and it’s a mess,” Chmiel said.
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