County explores 22,000 sq ft lease at Saint Barnabas to move records from mines; estimated moving costs $100,000–$200,000

Beaver County’s solicitor reported that the county is negotiating a potential short-term lease for roughly 22,000 square feet of space at a Saint Barnabas facility (the former Michael Baker building, Brighton Township) to store county records as the current offsite mine-storage agreement expires in November 2026.

The solicitor said no lease is finalized but county staff have inspected the site and that a two- to three-year lease is being discussed to give the county time to decide on a longer-term solution. County staff said the proposed Saint Barnabas space currently houses radio equipment and has substantial available capacity.

Officials discussed the operational goal of pulling frequently needed materials out of the mines, purging records per retention schedules and freeing space at the courthouse; staff estimated moving materials would free almost 5,000 square feet at the courthouse. County staff said digitization efforts will influence how much physical storage the county needs going forward.

Estimated costs to retrieve and move the material from the mines were described as “upwards of $100,000 to $200,000,” driven by retrieval and handling fees at the current storage vendor. The solicitor said departments will receive retention-law-based recommendations for review; destroying records that no longer require retention could save roughly $2 per box in handling fees compared with moving them.

County staff discussed retrieval logistics: departments will retain responsibility for how their boxes are indexed and stored in the new facility, IT staff will set access controls, and the county plans to install security cameras at the leased site. No final lease or movement plan was approved; the solicitor said staff will pursue negotiations and return to the board with a proposal.