Published Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
Mercer County Commissioners have decided to move the office of District Justice Henry J. Russo, to Farrell, and city council is not happy about it.
Sure, city council has worked for a couple of years to find a home for the office in the city, but the commissioners did not choose the site mapped out by council -- Spearman Avenue and Roemer Boulevard, across Roemer from the post office.
Commissioners responded that the decision to move the office to 841 Sharon-New Castle Road, which was most recently C's Waffle House, was made when William E. Gargano tendered them an offer that was too good to pass up.
Russo's office, which serves Hermitage, Farrell, West Middlesex, Wheatland and Shenango Township, has been housed in a county-owned building at 1119 Mercer Ave., Hermitage, for many years.
But the building is small, with attorneys and clients meeting in the parking lot, a storage room crammed with files or the courtroom. Police have complained about the inability to separate criminal defendants from victims and expressed security concerns when the office is busy.
Hermitage Fire Marshal Robert Goeltz pointed out to county officials a host of fire code violations.
The property does not have enough room to expand, which made finding a new site the only alternative, Commissioner Olivia Lazor said
Mercer County Common Pleas Court President Judge Francis J. Fornelli said the location should be in Farrell, based on the demographics of those whose criminal, traffic and civil cases are heard there.
By law, the president judge has to approve the site, and Fornelli said a Farrell location was his only prerequisite.
"From then on, it was between the city council and the county commissioners," Fornelli said, adding that he signed off on Spearman and Roemer and the Primary Health building on Roemer as they were presented to him.
Commissioner Kenneth Seamans said Gargano, partner in Garfar Inc., which owns the building, offered to sell it for $130,000, which is half its appraised value.
"There's no way possible anyone can offer anything like that," Seamans said.
Renovating the building for court use would cost no more than $80,000, and it can be open in a couple of months, he said.
To build at Spearman and Roemer, it would cost at least $80,000 for site preparation to level out the slope, and another $280,000 to put up the building, Seamans said.
The county will save about $150,000 by buying the existing building over building new, commissioners said.
"I don't know how you can justify not going there," Seamans said.
"It's a difficult call -- I understand the council's concern -- but we have to be aware of the expenses," Mrs. Lazor said.
Commissioners only set aside $150,000 each in a bond issue to replace the offices of Russo and District Justice William L. Fagley, Greenville.
In Greenville, when the office is moved and the old office is sold, the county will have paid about $250,000, Mrs. Lazor said, adding that she did not want to refinance the bond issue to get more money.
"When it comes to spending $300,000 in the city of Farrell, there's always a problem with it," said Councilman Robert Burich. "They're looking for the cheap way out. That really bothers me."
Council members said if the county does not want to put Russo's office at Spearman and Roemer, then they don't want it in Farrell at all.
Farrell Mayor William Morocco said county officials approached the city more than a year ago and asked officials to pick two sites for consideration.
The city suggested the corner of Idaho Street and Spearman Avenue, which quickly was discarded by the commissioners, and Roemer and Spearman, he said.
City officials were looking to the DJ's office to revitalize an area of town that needs help. The city wanted a new building and "a sense of forward progress," Morocco said.
"We're kicking and struggling down here to make it happen and they just don't understand," said Councilman Louis Falconi.
The city invested $89,000 to tear down the vacant, asbestos-laden former Methodist Church at Spearman and Roemer, and another $20,000 to buy an adjacent property to expand the amount of available space, said City Manager LaVon Saternow.
"They encouraged us to spend $100,000 in a distressed community and turned their backs on us," Councilman Rudolph Hammond said.
Mercer County Regional Council of Governments built a bus stop at the corner in hopes of serving the DJ's office through the Shenango Valley Shuttle Service.
The county made a "firm commitment" to the city to build at Roemer and Spearman, Burich said.
"I can't say that it was wrong for them to think it was a commitment," acknowledged Mrs. Lazor.
"This is a slap in the face to city council," Falconi said. "They've lied to us as far as I'm concerned."
City Council and Farrell Area School Board members said they don't like the district justice office across the street from the school and at the same site as the city's main commercial area.
"I think that most people in Farrell would enjoy having that by the city building," Farrell schools Superintendent Richard R. Rubano Jr. "I'm wondering if any other community would have enjoyed having that next to a shopping center or a school."
Officials also said they do not want that building taken off the tax rolls.
Falconi criticized Gargano for making the offer to the county.
"He's worse than they are," Falconi said.
Gargano could not be reached for comment.
Fornelli said that while the building will not be taxed, employees still will pay wage tax to the city.
While commissioners have notified the city of their decision, commissioners still must vote to approve the Gargano offer. Mrs. Lazor said she was not sure when a vote might be held.
"The quicker we can get him out of there, the better," Seamans said.
Russo declined to comment on the decision.