STEUBENVILLE — Their Cherry Avenue property has been divided into two parcels, but it hasn’t made it any easier for Jefferson County Commissioners to decide how they want to proceed with selling it.

Commissioners said Thursday they want to be respectful of residents living near the properties, which include Pico Park and the old armory building, which had at one time housed the Jeffco Training Center. Since BDD vacated the building in mid-2020 it’s sat empty, and residents report increased after-hours activity there.

“Kids are doing what they shouldn’t be doing because they know the building is empty,” one resident said. “The weather is warm, kids are out, they’re sitting on benches behind the building doing what they shouldn’t be doing.”

Commissioners had the property on the market previously but pulled it when they realized the deed also would have conveyed Pico Park and a playground to the buyer. After getting the property re-surveyed they voted in March to split the parcel, which allows them to sell the building while holding on to the park and playground for recreational use.

Commissioner Tony Morelli said they’re still mulling their options for how best to get rid of the building, which is currently zoned for “office space and things like that.”

“Do we want to sell it? Do we want to auction it off?” Morelli said. “There’s more than one way to get rid of it. For the same reason, I don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we put it up for sale and some small manufacturer comes in and … is ringing bells all night long, blowing whistles or whatever.”

Morelli said the building is in a residential area and doesn’t want to see residents unduly impacted.

“How do we know what’s going to go in there?” he said. “It’s not that we’re not doing anything — we could have just put it up for sale and got rid of it a long time ago…we’ve even looked at tearing it down.”

Last year, commissioners asked Steubenville police to step up patrols through the area after learning Maintenance Supervisor Patrick Boyles had found evidence of late-night parties behind the building, and said it helped get the problem under control.

“I think it’s just a fact, the kids have no fear because they know the building is empty, they’re just out having a good time,” the resident said, pointing out the late-night activity has been picking up again as temperatures warm. “I love the fact that the park is utilized by families and kids…but, you know, they’re not always playing ball. They get a little bit bored and need a break, and then they come back at night and do what they do.”

Commissioners, meanwhile, learned their premiums to the County Risk Sharing Authority will increase by more than 12 percent — going from around $419,000 a year to just over $474,000.

“Insurance is up everywhere,” Oklok-Criss’s Debbie Hukill said. “We’ve strived to keep you flat … but when they figured out the premiums, we’re right in the middle with it. A lot of counties got surcharged, there’s counties out there that got about 15 percent (increase), others got only a 10. But we stayed in the middle, that’s a real good thing.”

Hukill pointed out CORSA was founded in 1987, a time when “no one was writing public entities, there was not a market for them.” It currently has 77 member counties, she said, adding Jefferson County was one of the first five to join.

She said it’s important to note that county department heads have “stepped up and are doing all they can about loss control.”

Commissioners, meanwhile, agreed to hire MAI Laboratories of Plain City, Ohio, to do extended water testing required as part of the lease renewal with the Social Security office. Boyles said the federal government will reimburse them up to $3,500 for the mandatory tests, which include E coli and Legionella.

They also approved new door locks as well as cameras at the animal shelter as recommended by the IT department, which will cost just under $25,000. Dog Warden Chad Coil said their contract with the Humane Society requires the shelter to have a camera system, “with them having access to video footage, ad they are the primary users of the door lock system.”

Commissioners also referred a proposal by Ascent to lease the gas rights to another 36 acres of county land to the prosecutor’s office. The new leases would generate another $180,000 a year in bonuses.

Mike Gray, representing the Jefferson County Library Board, also told commissioners it’s levy renewal time and they “plan on having it on the ballot this November.”

Commissioners also opened bids for a new phone system from five businesses, one of them — World Radio Communications — based in Jefferson County. Bids ranged in price from $418,056 to as much as $616,414 for a five-year contract.