ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Commissioners voted to help the village of Bellaire with a road paving project on Wednesday morning.

The project includes paving the following streets: 47th Street from Jefferson Street to Harrison Street, 38th Street from Noble Street to Trumbull Street, Trumbull Street from 38th Street to High Ridge Road, Washington Street from 33rd Street to 34th Street, 21st Street from Belmont Street to Guernsey Street, 46th Street from Noble Street to Franklin Street, Monroe Street from 32nd Street to 38th Street, Franklin Street from 33rd Street to 34th Street to 38th, Folk Street from Taney Avenue to Dorer Avenue and 33rd Street from Guernsey Street to Monroe Street.

The estimated cost for the entire project is $731,275, and the commissioners voted to cover $127,989.23.

Pultney Township Trustee and Bellaire Village Administrator Frank Shaffer said the rest of the funding for the project is through a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission Small Government Program.

Commissioner Josh Meyer said the decision was made at the recommendation of Belmont County Engineer Terry Lively.

“It’s badly needed paving,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer noted that several storm sewers will also be replaced as part of the project.

“Anybody who has driven the streets of Bellaire can tell you that’s going to be a major improvement for the village of Bellaire,” he said.

Meyer said that as a Bellaire resident, he agrees.

“I mean, there’s a lot of streets that need improved, and this will at least be a start,” he said.

Shaffer thanked the commissioners for their support.

It’s badly needed, and I’m glad we’re moving forward on this,” he said.

In other news, Lisa Kazmirski, executive director of Belmont County Senior Services, said the new generator at the main senior services administrative building is up and running. She said the project has been in the works since 2022.

“It took quite a while to finish, but it is finished. The generator is in place. It’s been inspected, and it works fine. It switches over to full generator power in under 10 seconds. So all the tests have been successful,” she said.

Meyers said the unit was installed several months ago, but county officials had to wait for one more part to arrive before it could be used.

“We spent $170,000 on the generator and then we needed an additional $11,000 for the caging that goes around it because it sits on a large diesel fuel tank in the back of the building,” Kazmirski explained.

Kazmirski said the generator is especially needed to keep food cold during power outages.

“There are times when our agency has purchased $100,000 worth of food in our cooler and freezer. So when the power’s out for more than 24 hours, that temperature doesn’t hold any longer. So there’s the potential of losing that. Because we spend over a million dollars in food every year, we know this is worth the investment,” she said.

Kazmirski also said she plans to meet with Dave Ivan, director at the Belmont County Emergency Management Agency, to discuss opening the building up to the public in the event of a disaster.

The commissioners also voted to approve a sales agreement between TimeKeeping Systems Inc. and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office and Jail for new software. Meyers said the software will keep track of employee shifts as well as keeping track of the incarcerated people at the jail.

“This is an update to a system that they’ve had out there for several years. It’s been long overdue. It’s upgrading some of the technology. Basically, it’s a tracking system that will allow the guards when they make their rounds, they’ll be able to basically tap on a sensor that will notify and be put into the system that they’ve been making the rounds there, which will just allow them to have better reporting whenever they have their jail inspection. This will also allow for tracking of inmates’ wristbands that they can scan and will give them up-to-date information on those particular inmates and where they’re located at as far as where they’re housed at,” Meyer said.

Meyers said the cost of the system and on site training is $30,162.17 with an annual maintenance fee after the first year of $8,945. He said that commissary funds will be used to pay for all costs associated with the system

Meyers said the new system will be a “great improvement.”

All commissioners present — Meyers and J.P. Dutton – voted in favor of the sales agreement. Commissioner Jerry Echemann was absent from the meeting. Meyer said he should return for the next regular meeting at 10 a.m. on March 13.