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Belmont County Senior Services Center Set to Open in St. Clairsville

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday that the long-awaited new Department of Senior Services Center will be fully operational next week.

The center had begun operation about two weeks ago with the move of the administrative staff to the facility. Now the food license for the new senior center has been approved and the new kitchen will be operational by the first of next week.

“They’re going to get in there by Friday, and then beginning next week if all goes well, then food will be coming out of that kitchen,” Commissioner Mark Thomas said. “(The food license) was the final piece of the puzzle.”

The new senior center has seen delays since the beginning of this year due to issues such as wiring and negotiations for the elevator maintenance contract.

The Department of Senior Services supplies about 1,000 meals daily. Thomas added the volume and quality of meals will remain consistent with the new facilities.

Commissioners also answered questions about the plan to house some inmates at the Jefferson County Jail. Last week, the board agreed to a contract to house at least 30 inmates monthly at $55 per inmate per day for three months to address severe overcrowding issues at the Belmont County Jail.

Commissioners were asked why jail overcrowding has not been an issue for Jefferson County. Thomas pointed out that Jefferson County overbuilt its jail.

“That jail has never been full,” Thomas said. “And 10, 15 years after they built that jail, it has helped them because they have space for the jail. … It’s much larger than ours, and that’s the difference. When we expanded our jail 10, 11 years ago and went from 72 to 144 beds, nobody could predict what is happening today with society.”

Thomas cited rising crime issues due to the area’s drug epidemic. He said commissioners are still deciding whether to take on the long-term expense of constructing a new facility for misdemeanor offenders.

“Regardless of the decision we make, it’s going to come at great cost to the taxpayers,” Thomas said. “We don’t have a choice.”

“You can’t predict when crime’s going to happen,” Commissioner Josh Meyer added. “I know the sheriff’s department’s working hard. We’re continuing to work with the sheriff’s department to try to keep things as good as possible out there at the jail.”

Thomas added that Monroe County is facing similar issues.

“It’s a statewide problem,” Thomas said, adding that Belmont County is one of the largest counties in southeastern Ohio in terms of population.

Another major factor is the presence of Interstate 70.

“They’re trafficking drugs along the interstate highways,” Thomas said.

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