The first proposal is for a $2.5 million building project to relocate the Meigs County ESC office, now in the Pomeroy Village Hall, to a new facility, possibly near the Rio Grande Meigs Center at Rocksprings. The second proposal would allow for renovation of space and establishment of offices for ESC staff at the Bradbury Learning Center, where the ESC operates its Head Start program, and the three local school districts. That proposal would cost an estimated $1.5 million.
The ESC also operates an administrative office in Athens. John Costanzo, administrator of the two-county ESC, said the proposals, like many submitted in recent weeks through the state’s stimulus website, were put forth for consideration in hopes of being funded, but said they are designed to address anticipated and future needs of the ESC, which operates over 60 programs relating to public education, both on its own and in cooperation with the three local school districts.
Costanzo said the county’s ESC office in Pomeroy Village Hall is too small for the agency’s needs, and said the ESC will soon have to decide whether to make upgrades to its space or relocate. The proposal for a new office facility includes the purchase of real estate and construction of a 13,000 square-foot building.
The ESC’s smaller proposal would provide for space in local district schools for personnel who work primarily in those buildings. With budget cuts in recent years and more expected in the future, relocating those services to district buildings would be more cost-effective for the ESC and more practical for those providing and receiving services, Costanzo said.
These efforts to secure funding, Constanzo said, are designed to maintain services in the county while funding for many of them are being reduced.
“When a community like this loses services, regardless of what type of services we mean, it is difficult to restore them,” Costanzo said. “It is our goal to maintain the services here in the community.”
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