A pair of problems that have plagued an estimated $17 million Mercer County building project since last year apparently have been resolved.

The apparent remedies could clear the way for bids on a project to build a 265-bed county jail in Findley Township to be advertised this summer and address the biggest concern of some residents who live near the proposed jail site, county commissioners said.

Two agreements reached recently helped solve the problems, commissioners said.

The first was the purchase of 14.6 acres adjacent to the planned site in Findley Township for $50,000, which commissioners approved Thursday.

ßThe land had been owned by Robert L. Vish, Renaldo Vish Jr. and others. Chairman Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman, the board liaison to the jail project, said negotiations for the land lasted four months.

The additional land nearly doubles the size of the proposed jail site, to 30.1 acres. The additional land allows the county to move an access road to the jail from narrow Thompson Road to state Route 258, Brenneman said.

Some Thompson Road residents who have complained since last year about the access road feeding onto their residential road "appeared to be pleased" with the new plan when county officials informed them of the change Wednesday, Brenneman added.

Despite the cost of purchasing the land, Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor said the move could save the county at least $150,000. Now the county won't have to cough up any money to adjust narrow Thompson Road to provide adequate access to the jail or for road and traffic studies and rights-of-way, she said.

"It has solved a lot of problems," added Commissioner Kenneth A. Seamans.

Brenneman said it could take up to two months for the plans to be redrawn, with the jail being repositioned on the 30-acre site. After they are finalized, the bids will be advertised, he said.

The second agreement reached addresses the jail's sewage needs.

Brenneman said the county has reached a tentative agreement with the state Department of Corrections to tap into the system of the neighboring State Regional Correctional Facility. It was not the preferred plan but it was the least expensive, he said. The county will pay the state $65,000 to upgrade the prison's sewage system and about $200,000 to run 3,500 feet of line to the prison, Brenneman said.

Becoming part of a five-community regional sewage system had been the preferred plan. Despite the potential it could spur regional development, the plan would have been too costly for the county at this time, Brenneman said. "It is down the road a number of years," he said, adding that the county jail and state prison could possibly hook onto a regional system in the future if plans for one materialize. As a backup plan, the county had also considered building an on-site system of its own, but costs could have exceeded $1 million to install the system and included continuing maintenance costs.