Citing critical space needs for its employees, Carbon County Commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday to purchase the former Jim Thorpe Area School District administration building at 410 Center Ave.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich made the motion to purchase the building at a price not to exceed fair market value, taking into consideration inspection results as it relates to roof deficiencies and necessary abatement.

“This building takes care of us today and decades into the future,” Lukasevich said. “Someone has to bite the bullet and not worry about November 2023 and make the decision about what is in the best interest, long-term of this community.”

The county offered $517,000 prior to a feasibility study by Boyle Construction Management published earlier this week.

Boyle’s study offered two renovation estimates, one at $9 million, which would accommodate 83 employees and 62 parking spaces, and another at $8 million, which would accommodate 53 employees and 52 parking spaces.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein, who joined Lukasevich in voting to purchase the building, said the county’s Children and Youth Services department needs the space “as soon as possible.”

“We’ve looked at other buildings, but either renovations costs or something else has knocked us out time and time again over the years,” Nothstein said. “It’s about time we make a damn decision and move forward. I am not, however, in favor of doing anything other than the necessary renovations to the administration building like the roof or heating and ventilation until we get the courthouse done.”

The proposed $6.9 million courthouse renovation project is just one of the high priced items Commissioner Rocky Ahner said the administration building purchase would be added on top of, leaving him worried about how everything will be funded.

“We have $6.9 million for the courthouse, $5 million for the training center, a possible $1 million at the prison for safety and security issues, and what will the cost be from the neglect of our own building we’re sitting in right now?” Ahner, who voted no on purchasing the building, said. “The tax increase starts today. You might not get the bill for two years, but you’re going to pay for it. We’re overextending our money.”

Instead of buying the administration building, Ahner proposed purchasing the St. Luke’s Wound Care Management center on Iron Street in Lehighton. The county, he added, could purchase the building for $510,000 and 3,543 square feet of space would be available for use immediately to accommodate an increase in employees.

“Also, 2,128 square feet will be vacated by the end of November so that additional staff can be moved,” Ahner said. “The remaining 2,650 square feet, St. Luke’s would rent off of the county until their plans at the new hospital in Franklin Township are finished. Then the remaining department could be moved and be self-sufficient.”

Lukasevich, however, said the building won’t accommodate the needs for the Children and Youth Services department.

“The administration building has over 32,000 square feet of usable space with an ability to hold up to 83 employees,” he said. “The price per square foot, we can get it down to anywhere between $246 to $278, depending on the plan we pursue and how much parking is needed. Children and Youth needs just under 13,000 square feet. The building on Iron Street doesn’t come close. It’s about 25% short of the needs for that department. Plus it would take $2 to $3 million to get it in a workable environment.”

Ahner also questioned why the Carbon County Area Agency on Aging, currently located in Palmerton, is being discussed in the move to the administration building.

“You would think,” Ahner said, “the goal is to ease traffic yet we’re bringing more people to Jim Thorpe on a street that two cars can’t pass each other at a $9 million dollar price tag that would burden the taxpayers.”

With Ahner and Lukasevich having clearly opposing views, Nothstein called his decision the “toughest he’s had to make in his 22 years with the county.”

The other biggest decision, he said, was the sale of Weatherwood, the county’s former nursing home and rehabilitation center.

“This is even worse than that,” Nothstein said. “There are so many moving parts to this puzzle. We have to make a move, especially Children and Youth Services right now. It’s common knowledge with our citations, we were on the verge of losing our license and things are really looking up for us right now.”

Before the vote, several members of the public and other county officials voiced their opposition to the purchase.

Mark Sverchek, county controller, said the purchase could turn into Carbon’s “white elephant.”

“I am concerned, like a lot of the residents, because it is a large capital investment,” Svercheck said. “We have one of the highest senior citizen populations with a lot of folks on a fixed income and I think taxes are obviously going to go up. I think it’s the wrong location and the wrong building. And the cost is way too high.”

Jerry Hoare of Jim Thorpe called it “disturbing” that the county would spend $8 million or $9 million to renovate an existing building.

“I just can’t understand why we continue to spend that kind of money in a county that’s not able to afford it,” Hoare said. “I noticed that there were exclusions in the renovation estimate, so I can see that it’s going to cost a lot more than what those estimates indicate.”