ASHLAND — Ashland County commissioners pushed pause on their plans to move the title office to the dog shelter after a lengthy discussion Thursday.
Commissioners in early February hired VSWC Architects to design an office space for the Ashland County Title Department. Their new office location? Vacant, unfinished space attached to the dog shelter building located along Baney Road.
A resolution stated the county would spend up to $48,000 on VSWC’s designs. At the time, commissioners said finishing the new office would likely cost around $300,000.
But all work on that, as of Thursday, will be paused following concerns raised by Ashland County Clerk of Courts Deborah Myers.
Myers’ concerns
Myers, who initially supported the move, sent a letter to the commissioners via email on March 3. The letter listed concerns about the move, including a perceived inconvenience to customers seeking titles for various transactions such as vehicles and mobile homes.
“Having the title division on Baney Road will require the public (and attorneys) to travel from title to the Admin Building and back to title again,” she wrote, referencing the planned construction of an administrative building along Cottage Street. “Our goal is to serve the public, but I feel they will be frustrated by this move.”
She also said the move would require her staff to drive to a bank, an errand that is done by foot currently because of the office’s proximity to the bank with which it works.
“If the office is moved to the dog shelter building, someone will have to drive their personal car and be reimbursed for milage. This is an expense not currently required. I’m unsure what the county’s liability would be if an employee is required to drive their personal vehicle for work purposes and an incident occurs,” Myers said.
Myers said her initial support of the move hinged on the commissioners’ success of having the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office also make the move. In the scenario, the two offices — BMV and the Ashland County Title Department — would be located side by side.
“We see that it is now unlikely that the BMV Deputy Registrar office will be moving here,” Myers said.
An agent with the BMV in Ashland, located along Commerce Parkway, deferred questions to her manager. The manager was not in the office.
Myers also said she’s heard concerns about staff allergens to dogs. If the title department moves to the dog shelter, she would be concerned about staff’s allergies.
She requested, therefore, that commissioners find space in the new administrative building or to keep the title office at the courthouse.
A day after she sent the letter, Commissioner Jim Justice responded.
“Deb, sorry to say, we are to (sic) far down the road to change course. Lots of money has been spent with (Brad Adams) on both locations,” he wrote, according to an email exchange obtained by Ashland Source via a public records request.
Public records, however, show the county commissioners’ office has not spent any of the contracted $48,000 on the designs.
Brad Adams is the architect who works for VSWC. He was not immediately available for comment.
Myers characterized Justice’s email as “dismissive.” So she took the concerns to the commissioners in person on Thursday during a regularly scheduled meeting.
The commissioners’ response
On Thursday, commissioners Justice and Denny Bittle said they would consider her request, but not before expressing disappointment for not knowing about Myers’ opposition to the plan. (Commissioner Mike Welch was absent Thursday.)
“Well, this is news to us,” Justice said, reiterating VSWC’s work into the designs for the room. He said they are working through “picking out where to put plugs and drawers and cabinets and all that.”
Ultimately, Justice said he wasn’t opposed to canceling the title department’s move to the dog shelter.
But, he said: “I am very, very disappointed that we’ve gotten this far and now we’re hearing this. It seems to me we’ve wasted a lot of money in architecture expenses and stuff that wouldn’t have been wasted had we known.”
…I think this is one situation where maybe we ought to take a listen to what the public is saying.”
Tina carpenter, ashland county court administrator
At one point, Tina Carpenter, the court administrator, referenced she had been flooded with calls from members of the public. Every one of them, she said, voiced opposition to the title department moving to the dog shelter.
“And when you have a project like this you would anticipate some positive comments about a project that’s coming up. Zero. Zero. That’s concerning … I think this is one situation where maybe we ought to take a listen to what the public is saying,” Carpenter said.
“I’m not gonna make a decision because a few people are upset. If we did that, we’d never do anything,” Justice said.
What will move into the vacant space at the dog shelter?
After Thursday, it’s unclear.
The original plan involved renting the space out to a dog-shelter related business, like a veterinarian or grooming salon.
Bittle said they have tried for three years to secure a tenant, to no avail.
The $3 million dog shelter, completed in September 2023, was built to house 69 pups. The front of the building was left unfinished. The hope was to secure a tenant to finish the 3,000 square-foot space.
“We talked to real estate agents. We tried to get somebody in from (Ohio State University) or somewhere to be a vet. We haven’t found anybody that wants to come in,” Justice said.