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By the Numbers
Courthouse and AB Graham Renovations - $2.5 million to $3 million
Security System - $400,00
Sheriff Administration move to Springview - $500,000
Conversion of sheriff offices to treatment center $1.5 million
Juvenile Detention outside space conversion - $300,000
City/county combined 911 dispatch center - $4.2 million
Source: Clark County
Some members of a criminal justice committee raised questions recently about a proposal to establish a drug treatment facility in the Public Safety Building and relocate Clark Sheriff’s Office staff to the Springview Government Center.
City of Springfield Law Director Jerry Strozdas and Municipal Court Clerk of Courts Guy Ferguson questioned whether officials had considered other locations for the facility or the impact of separating Springfield law enforcement officials from deputies.
“I recognize and I think the whole city organization realizes that inpatient drug and alcohol treatment services are a crying need in the community,” Strozdas said. “The question is where is the best and most logical place to house those?”
Strozdas said his questions about the proposal centered on whether county officials discussed relocating the sheriff’s office with the affected departments, considered the impact of separating city and county law enforcement officials and if that was the right thing to do.
“I got more questions than I do answers,” Strozdas said.
If the $1.5 million project is approved, the board will provide $500,000 in matching funds to renovate the sheriff’s office downtown to transform it into a 24-hour, 40-bed treatment facility for men battling drug addiction, according to an application obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.
In addition, the move would allow McKinley Hall, a drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation facility in Springfield, to establish Clark County’s only women’s residential drug treatment center. It would also result in the sheriff’s detectives and administrative staff relocating to Springview, officials said.
Renovations to the top floor of Springview could cost an estimated $500,000, which would be paid for by county capital improvement funds, officials said.
County Administrator Nathan Kennedy said moving the sheriff’s administration out to Springview has been the an objective since the county purchased Springview, 130 E. Main St.
Other county projects discussed were plans to spend about $4.2 million for a county-city combined 9-1-1 dispatch center. Officials are still discussing multiple funding options.
The county also plans to spend $2.5 million to $3 million on renovations to the Clark County Common Pleas Court and AB Graham buildings, County Administrator Nathan Kennedy said.
“Both of those are monument buildings,” he said. “They have no fire suppression system, in many cases they have original wiring throughout the buildings.
“They have antiquated HVAC in that they don’t have HVAC,” Kennedy continued. “They have heating. They have window air conditioners and they have windows that open. They don’t have a regular HVAC system. They’re in need of repair on the outside. Water is coming in some parts of the building — through the roof and through the walls. That’s a problem. Drainage is a problem. They’re in need of renovation.”
In addition, juvenile officials want to spend $300,000 — $100,000 of which would come from juvenile court — to convert outside space on the south side of juvenile detention into indoor space, and county officials plan to spend $400,000 on a new security system for county buildings.
“The (security) over 15 years old and is kind of a hodgepodge of individual systems,” Kennedy said. “The system in municipal court is different than what’s over at juvenile court, different than what’s over at AB Graham, different than what’s at Springview. DJFS has sheriff’s personnel, but no security per say.”
Meanwhile, individuals in the proposed treatment center would not be in police custody. The proposal could help reduce jail population, address the shortage of beds in Clark County for those battling drug addiction and give judges an alternative place to send individuals arrested on drug-related offenses.
Strozdas said back in the early- to mid-1980s officials put city and county officials in the same building as part of an effort to coordinate services.
“Now we’re going to break that up,” he said. “Has that been thought through and thoroughly discussed. Because as a community we felt back then that it makes more sense to do this. Now we’re breaking it back up.”
Kennedy has also been asked if drug treatment was the “business” of county government, and why officials selected the Public Safety Building to house a treatment center?
He said the county has the ability to house those in recovery, and can offer food service at low costs, as well as nurses who will be on staff.
Ferguson expressed concern about paperwork from the sheriff’s office detectives getting to his office.
Others questioned if the treatment center could be housed on the fourth floor at Springview instead of moving sheriff’s detectives.
Kennedy said there are pluses and minuses to the proposal for the treatment center, including ensuring promises made to the city related to building space are adhered to and ensuring security for others remaining in the building.
Mental Health & Recovery Board of Clark, Greene and Madison Counties CEO Kent Youngman said the only way his organization can afford to operate the center is if they get a state grant and can access Medicaid and Medicare.
Kennedy said no decision has been made on the proposed drug treatment center and asked municipal court officials to send letters of support or a letter detailing their concerns about the project.
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