Trumbull County officials outline $1.75 million state grant to fix jail roof

The Trumbull County Board of Commissioners discussed a $1,750,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to repair the roof at the county jail, officials said at the March 3 workshop.

Sheriff's office representatives and county staff said the department initially offered $1.2 million but, after negotiations, increased the award to $1.75 million. Commissioners and staff noted the county had already committed $500,000 toward the project, which demonstrates local investment and helped secure the larger award.

"The original offer that they gave us was 1,200,000, but David was able to negotiate that up to about this 1.75," a county speaker said, thanking staff for their work in securing additional funds. County general administration staff said project paperwork must be completed and that the grant funds must be spent this calendar year under the award terms.

Officials clarified the roof-repair work is separate from a concurrent boiler replacement project. The county general administrator said demolition of the old boilers had begun and that the actual boiler swap will wait for warmer weather to avoid multi-day outages during cold conditions. Commissioners emphasized coordination of the two projects to avoid schedule conflicts.

No formal vote on acceptance of the grant was recorded in the workshop transcript; staff advised commissioners about the procedural steps, including required paperwork and the timeline for obligating funds. The administration said it will prepare the documents and follow the state instructions so the work can go to bid after the county completes its internal steps.

What happens next: staff will complete the paperwork required by the state construction program and solicit bids; commissioners sign-off or a future meeting vote may be required to authorize contracts once bids and final budgets are available.