Monroe County Commissioners are moving ahead on the plan to lease Ramsey Elementary School for office space during the several years required for the expansion and renovations on the courthouse.

The decision was reached after a lengthy analysis to see if leasing the older building and making the necessary updating would be a financially sound plan - especially when the Stroudsburg School District owns the building.

The county would not be throwing away money but saving money in the $50 million to $60 million project, according to Commissioner John Christy.

The plan is for courthouse offices and departments to move to Ramsey. “It makes sense to lease the building so we can move courthouse employees to a place where they will have a quiet work environment, instead of walking into their offices at the courthouse and trying to work around the construction. Plus it is only a few blocks from the courthouse,” he said.

Christy estimated that doing this could cut four to five months off the construction time and save money.

Right now, the county commissioners have an agreement with the school district that they can access the building to see what renovations the old school needs. Before the building was an elementary school, it was Stroudsburg High School.

“We are done with the preliminary studies but still need to do the pricing to do the renovations,” he said.

The commissioners are moving ahead with plans for the variances needed to make the building work, but will not sign a leasing contract until they know the variances are approved, Christy said.

“Once the work on the courthouse project is finished, the updated building will revert back to the school district, making it more marketable if the school district wants to sell it,” he said.

In other business

• Monroe County Probation Office executed an electronic monitoring service agreement with BI Incorporated through Oct. 19, 2021, to continue to monitor those on probation at a rate reduction from the last term.

• Monroe County Domestic Relations Office signed a contract with HAAG Construction in the amount of $10,875 on behalf of the Area Agency on Aging, to make necessary repairs to the Loder Center Porch.

• The Monroe County Commissioners awarded agreements through the Act 24 CARES Coronavirus County Relief Fund to another 42 recipients.