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County solicitor outlines short-term lease plan to move records out of mines; costs and access remain uncertain
Summary
The solicitor described negotiations for a potential short-term lease of a Saint Barnabas facility to remove county records from underground mines, with staff estimating a multi-year lease and moving costs in the six figures; no final agreement was reached.
Beaver County’s solicitor told commissioners the county is negotiating a short-term lease to relocate county records currently stored in underground mines to a 22,000-square-foot Saint Barnabas facility in Brighton Township while longer-term storage and digitization plans are developed.
The solicitor said the current storage agreement for the mines expires in November 2026 and that the county is considering a roughly three-year lease of the Saint Barnabas building to free staff and departments from having to travel to the mines for records retrieval. “Nothing at this point is finalized,” the solicitor said, adding that elections and other departments have inspected the facility and that the county hopes to finalize an arrangement in a month or two.
County staff said the move would allow them to begin purging records according to retention laws before deciding on permanent storage, and estimated the physical move of all records could cost “upwards of a hundred to $200,000.” Staff also said the Saint Barnabas site could free “a little less than 5,000 square foot” at the mines, easing onsite congestion for departments such as elections and public works.
Officials discussed access: departments will have organized sections and indexing in the leased facility, and departments would be responsible for their own boxes. Retrieval of single documents from the mines currently requires coordination with the mines’ operator and may incur charges; staff said the county would meet with the mines’ operator to arrange pull logistics. IT staff will work on controlled electronic access and security cameras for the leased site.
The solicitor asked for an executive session later in the meeting to address a litigation matter connected to storage. No lease was signed at the session; staff were authorized to continue negotiations and report back.
