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Beaver County explores short-term lease for document storage to reduce reliance on mines
Summary
The county is negotiating a potential short-term lease of roughly 22,000 square feet at the Saint Barnabas building near the state police barracks to move records out of underground storage; officials discussed retrieval costs, indexing and a department-level retention review.
Beaver County officials discussed plans to reduce reliance on the county's underground "mines" archive storage and are negotiating a potential short-term lease at the Saint Barnabas building to consolidate records.
The county solicitor reported the county has contacted Saint Barnabas about leasing about 22,000 square feet in a facility commonly known locally as the former Michael Baker building in Brighton Township. The current contract for storage in the mines expires in November 2026, and staff said they are discussing a three-year lease to move records temporarily while the county considers longer-term options.
Officials said the move aims to make records easier to access and to give departments space to purge documents according to retention laws. One staffer said the relocation could free "a little less than 5,000 square foot" in the courthouse for other departments, and several department heads have inspected the Saint Barnabas space.
Board discussion covered retrieval logistics and cost. Staff said retrieval from the mines will require staging and indexing; county personnel (likely DPW crews) would participate in pulls and the county faces substantial retrieval costs. Staff estimated the total moving cost could be "upwards of $100,000 to $200,000" given current volumes and handling charges, and noted the county pays a lower per-box fee if boxes are destroyed prior to moving.
County staff are reviewing retention schedules and said they will send department-level recommendations to department heads identifying records to keep or destroy; this review could reduce the volume moved and lower costs. Officials also said the county will add security measures, such as controlled access and cameras, at any new storage site.
No lease was finalized at the meeting; staff said they hoped to finalize and begin implementing a short-term solution within one to two months and would return to the board with specifics.
Ending: Staff will continue negotiations on a short-term lease and complete the retention review; the board did not approve a lease or award contracts at the meeting.
