Mahoning County commissioners purchase Austintown building for office space
During a Mahoning County commissioners meeting Thursday, tensions flared between the commissioners and the commissioner-elect, Geno DeFabio.
The debate about purchasing the old InfoCision building in Austintown on Patriot Boulevard caused passionate counter-arguments during the hour-long meeting.
Their plan is to move some offices from the Oak Hill Renaissance Center, which could include the board of elections office.
Commissioner's David Ditzler and Carol Rheghetti fiercely stood behind their decision to vote in favor of utilizing the building in Austintown.
Commissioner Anthony Traficanti voted against the purchase, which will cost $2.5 million, with an additional $4.5 million in renovations.
Traficanti said he did not feel comfortable moving forward because there are too many unknowns at this point. He also raised concerns about how this purchase would impact tax payers in the county.
With commissioner David Ditzler having been voted out, his replacement, DeFabio, said he should have some say. But, the Austintown building's current owner, the Western Reserve Port Authority, said if the county didn't take the deal this week, they would likely have to pull the offer from the table.
At this stage of the transition, Traficanti said it is unclear what will happen to the Oak Hill center in Youngstown and how many offices and departments would be moved to Austintown.