Troy Ohio

Commissioners Want Info on Elevator Problems


The Miami County commissioners want answers as to why an elevator replaced in the Safety Building five years ago continues to pose problems.


Chris Johnson, county director of operations and facilities, discussed with commissioners Dec. 13 efforts to resolve issues with one of two public elevators installed in the building in 2012-13. That project was part of a contract to replace the elevators installed in the building when it was constructed in the early 1970s.


The more than $400,000 project also included two new elevators in the county jail section of the building. "If you look at the history ... and maintenance reports, you will see it has given us problems since it was installed," said Commissioner John "Bud" O'Brien.


"He is well aware that you want some answers," Johnson said of the representative of contractor Thyssen Krupp Elevator Corp.


"I am going to keep asking," O'Brien said. He noted that he found it curious that the commission had talked to the company about issues with that same elevator before the project, and similar problems continue.


The commission also discussed with Johnson the closing of the David L. Brown Youth Center in the former county children's home in Elizabeth Township.


The center, operated by the county Juvenile Court, was closed in mid-November due to declining use of its program for teenage boys. The commissioners are looking into the future of the building and its approximately 170 acres. A company was hired recently to conduct a property survey. The property was donated to the county in the late 1800s for use in serving children.


The commissioners agreed that a presence in the property was important although freezers and similar equipment had been turned off.


The commissioners also heard from Rob England of the county building department about major construction projects in the county that are under way or in the planning.


Among the largest projects, he said, are the Kettering Hospital construction in Troy, the expansion of the YMCA between Troy and Tipp City and the Casey's General Store that is planned for the corner of Donn Davis Way and County Road 25A in Tipp City.