Photos by Emma Delk Belmont County Fair Board member David Jones speaks at Wednesday’s meeting to give commissioners an update on the new Ohio State University Extension and the Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District facility.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County commissioners heard a construction update regarding the Ohio State University Extension and the Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District facility at the Belmont County Fairgrounds.

Belmont County Fair Board member David Jones spoke at the Wednesday morning meeting, saying that progress is moving smoothly on the construction that began a month ago. Jones said the building’s study has been built, with the facility “about 40% completed.”

Electrical and plumbing have also been installed in the building.

Jones added that the contractor is installing ductwork for heating and air conditioning, which he noted can be a “slow process.” After the ductwork is finished, the contractor will begin to install drywall.

Once completed, the facility will house both OSU Extension and soil and water. Jones said the building will have separate entrances at either end.

The soil and water facility is currently located in a building on West Main Street in St. Clairsville, which Commissioner J.P. Dutton noted is not a county-owned space. He said this has created “challenges” regarding the programs the conservation district can administer.

OSU Extension is housed in the basement of the annex building on North Market Street. Dutton said moving the organization to the fairgrounds would make “a lot more sense,” as the group does “a lot of programs” in the evening at the location.

Jones added that having the two entities housed in one building would allow a resident to “take care of a lot of things at one time” if they had business in the county.

The million-dollar building project is funded by “various organizations in the county,” including the fair board and Belmont County, according to Jones. There also is $400,000 in federal funding secured by Ohio Rep. Don Jones, R-Freeport, going toward the project.

“The state money is always a plus, but there are more hoops that you have to jump through with it,” Jones noted. “Nevertheless, construction is moving along, and we’re excited. I ran into a soil and water employee yesterday, and they can’t wait to get in.”

Belmont County Commission President Jerry Echemann questioned what officials with the Belmont County Agricultural Society, which is in charge of developments at the fairgrounds, think about having the two entities at the location.

“We welcome that very much,” Jones responded. “Nothing is going on there in the day other than our maintenance people here and there. Now we’ll have someone out there every day, and I think that’s good for everybody security-wise.”

Echemann then asked whether an outbuilding could be added at the location to hold equipment.

Jones said that would be something for the fair board to look into “maybe later on,” noting it would be a separate entity the “county has to build.”

“We’ve talked to some about where that new storage building could be, and it would be centrally located on the fairgrounds,” Jones said.

Commission Vice President Josh Meyer thanked Jones for the update, adding that the commission “always appreciates working with Dave and the fair board.”

“Anybody that knows Dave pretty much knows you don’t have a choice if you want to work with Dave or not,” Meyer joked. “He comes knocking at our door every other day. We are glad to be a part of and help get OSU Extension and soil and water out there. It just makes sense to have them on the same grounds.”

The commissioners also approved a contract for $216,000 with Border Patrol LLC to remodel the Sargus Juvenile Detention Center’s restrooms and showers based on the recommendation of Executive Director D.J. Watson.

Dutton noted that “there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements that need to be done at Sargus over time.” He added that Jones has secured $500,000 for improvements to the center, and the commissioners are working “very closely” with him to get the project up and running.

“As much as $500,000 is coming back to Belmont County for even more renovation work needed at the juvenile detention center,” Dutton said. “It’s still early in the process, but we’re making good headway.”