It’s full steam ahead for a project that will provide Children and Youth Services additional space for operating the department.

On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners, in a 2-1 vote, approved five contracts for phase 1 renovations at the 525 Iron St., Lehighton building. Carbon purchased the building from St. Luke’s earlier this year at a cost of $500,000.

The contracts combined total $2,518,060, which will be covered using American Rescue Plan funding and then reimbursed by the Children and Youth department.

Broken down, CMG of Easton Inc. of Easton was awarded the general contract at a low bid of $1,239,000. Electrical was awarded to Urban Electrical Contractors Inc. of Dunmore for $530,000. Mechanical was awarded to the second lowest bidder, Master Mechanical Corp. of McAdoo for $521,480 after the lowest bidder had technical deficiencies in the bid.

Plumbing was awarded to Dewalt Plumbing of Easton for $148,800 and fire protection was awarded to Triangle Fire Protection Inc. of Carlisle for $78,780.

Prior to the vote, Commissioner Chris Lukasevich provided a PowerPoint presentation on why he felt moving forward with this option would not provide the county with the space it needs for the future.

He compared the 410 Center Ave., Jim Thorpe building that the county had been looking to purchase with the 525 Iron St. building, outlining space available, costs for renovations and departments that will be served. He then voted no on the five contract awards.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner refuted Lukasevich’s thoughts, saying the estimated renovation totals have increased due to inflation. He also said there were delays because Lukasevich wanted a study done first before moving forward on the renovations.

The two also went into a discussion over parking at the two sites.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the county would have problems if a major incident in Jim Thorpe would occur and all buildings were located there.

He also asked if the county wants to mix Children and Youth with other court cases and people coming in for court and other offices.

“To me, there’s several reasons why we should spread out a little bit other than just parking.”

The renovation project will include demolishing an unused portion of the building and create a new two-story section. That portion of the building will provide additional square footage that can be used for fiscal and the Children and Youth department, as well as hide HVAC equipment for the building.

A small portion of the building currently houses the St. Luke’s wound care center and additional empty office space. It has 9,641 square feet of space usable on the main floor, with an additional 5,000 square feet of space in the basement.

Carbon County currently has 26 employees in the Children and Youth department but will be expanding to help lower the caseloads per caseworker as per the state requirements. That department uses 4,800 square feet at its present location in Jim Thorpe, but has outgrown that size.