Belmont County Commissioner Jerry Echemann says that bids will soon be open for the Belmont County Courthouse Plaza project. (T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Bids for the Belmont County Courthouse Plaza project.

Bids will be open from April 23 until May 4.

Belmont County Commissioner Jerry Echemann said that the project has been in the works for several years and he is excited to be close to entering the construction phase.

The project is to make the plaza ADA accessible.

Built in 1886, the Belmont County Courthouse has been in need of ADA compliant updates for some time.

Commissioner J.P. Dutton previously said that the project will be heavy on ADA accessibility in terms of curb cuts and sidewalk slopes from the entirety front of the courthouse as well as extending around the block to the courthouse’s annex building.

“A lot of it has to do with ADA accessibility in and around the courthouse, but also some repairs and smoothing the bricks,” Echemann said. “I will note that the reconstruction of the Belmont County Courthouse campus in order to facilitate bicycle pedestrian connectivity, meet ADA regulations and enhance access to vital services and historic sites.”

During the board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, the commissioners passed a motion to sign the contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Echemann said that the motion to sign the contract is due to ODOT being in charge of the bidding process.

The final cost estimate for the project is $3,003,477.

A Transportation Alternatives Program grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation covers 95% of eligible costs – up to a maximum of $1,417,714.

In Nov. 2024, the board announced that the plaza will be named “Belmont County Veterans Plaza.”

The board unanimously agreed to the name.

Dutton said that the name was perfect because across Belmont County there are many villages with a high participation rate in the armed services.

Also at the meeting, Echemann moved to enter into the integrated corporate health service agreement and Business Associate Agreement for conducting biometric health screenings for Belmont County Anthem Plan members at various locations on various dates in April.

He said that the agreement is an annual motion that was created several years ago. Echemann said that a mobile unit comes into the courthouse and does some healthcare for free of charge for those who wish to take part.

“It’s not a mandatory thing, but they do blood work to try to keep our employees healthy and also keep the health care costs down,” Echemann said. “I went six or seven years ago, I had some blood work done, and then some things came up, which weren’t really great that I just wouldn’t have known about otherwise. It was not a huge deal. But, I made changes based on some of the blood work that came back.

He added that if he didn’t participate in the program he wouldn’t have got the blood work done which could have led to a more serious result.

“When they do the blood work, they can find certain things that you just wouldn’t know how to analyze,” he said. “So we encourage all of our county employees to go and take advantage of this free service.”