T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Sargus Juvenile Detention Center Deputy Director Steve Kovaly, left, speaks with Belmont County commissioners clerk Bonnie Zuzak. The county has committed to assist with renovations to the juvenile center.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Sargus Juvenile Detention Center will be renovated, beginning with restroom and shower remodeling.

On Wednesday the Belmont County Board of Commissioners accepted a bid from Border Patrol LLC — the sole bidder — at $216,000.

Steve Kovaly, deputy director of the juvenile center, was present to speak about the center and the work done there. He said the facilities are adequate but aging.

“We just celebrated our 50th anniversary. We appreciate that the commissioners believe in our mission statement at the Sargus Center. Through some building renovations and repairs, we’re hoping we can be around for the next 50 years and continue to serve the youth of Belmont County,” he said. “We’re hoping to start with the showers and restrooms on one side of our building in our boys’ wing. We’re hoping to do a project in our girls’ wing the same nature.”

He said renovations to the windows may be next on the list.

“Some of the metal framing around the windows just needs replaced. Some of the other windows need replaced to make things more efficient,” he added.

Kovaly said floor work and security measures will also be considered.

He said Sargus housed an average of 23 juveniles per day in 2023. The capacity is 30 beds.

“That population has remained steady. Currently I can foresee that remaining steady into the foreseeable future as well, given current trends,” he said.

He noted that the center’s revenue is based on population, which went down during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but has been significantly higher in recent years.

“We appreciate the commitment, the support and the investment into the Sargus Juvenile Center,” he said. “As far as programming, we do the best we can with what we have. We offer a vast array of programming for the juveniles that are detained there. Through partnerships with other community agencies such as Tri-County, the Ohio State University Extension Office, they come in and just do a variety of anti-violence campaigns and nutrition campaigns. Things that young folks should be aware of.”

Commissioner Jerry Echemann said the facility serves Belmont and Harrison counties and that the commissioners toured the site in recent months.

“We’ve seen it for ourselves. There’s a lot of things that need to be tended to. The restrooms and showers really stuck out,” he said.

Commissioner Josh Myer also commented.

“We appreciate the work all of you do out there,” he said. “It’s not an easy task to do what you’re doing, even in the best of facilities.”

In other matters, the commissioners voted to advertise for bids for a sewer capital improvement project, the replacement of a gravity force main on Blaine Hill.

Echemann said the project will cost close to $2 million and be totally grant funded, with $800,000 in congressional funding secured by U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, as well as $250,000 from the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and the remainder from the Ohio Department of Development.

“It’s a very good thing. It’ll take all the sewage from the mall, Ohio Valley Plaza area and goes down to Blaine, and from Blaine it goes out to the East Ohio Regional Wastewater Authority and is treated. It’s not that anything broke or went bad, it’s a question of capacity,” he said, adding that the 8-inch line will be replaced by 6,820 feet of 12-inch line. Work should begin in late April.

Senior Services Director Lisa Kazmirski was also present. The commissioners approved the trade-in of a 2015 Ford Fusion for $1,500 and the purchase of a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica for $43,674. The vehicle will be purchased with $43,198 in Healthy Aging grant funds, with the remaining $476 from Senior Services’ main operating account. The vehicle will be used to transport seniors for grocery shopping, for deliveries and to transport seniors to events and locations. Kazmirski said the total grant was $224,000, with 20 percent devoted to food insecurity issues, 20 percent for housing and 10 percent for increased internet access, with 50 percent as discretionary funds.

“We applied for and received an exception,” she said, adding that this has allowed for the purchase of three new vehicles to increase grocery shopping operations in Powhatan Point, Bellaire and Martins Ferry, since the current vans have about 150,000 miles on them. She said the need continues to be high among seniors.

“Home-delivered meals are staying pretty steady, as is medical transportation. However seniors who go to our senior centers have a need for getting to grocery stores and help with groceries, in and out of the house and things like that. Some of our homebound seniors can’t even get to the grocery store, so our senior center staff will order their groceries with them and then go pick them up at the local stores. … We want to make sure everyone has the food in their house that they need.”

The county will also pay for utilities necessary for the operation of the Women, Infants and Children program in the Belmont County Health Department until further notice. Echemann noted the WIC program is preparing to move from its offices in the Chase Bank building on Belmont Street in Bellaire into the former office of Veterans Affairs, also on Belmont Street in Bellaire, for a more convenient location to serve clients. He said the main WIC office will move into the new health department building when it is constructed on Bannock Road, but it will maintain a satellite office in Bellaire due to the number of clients in that area who make use of the services.