Adena council discusses future use of old bank building

At the Sept. 9 meeting, Mayor Brenda Roski told council that someone is interested in renting part of the old bank building for a physician’s office. After a brief discussion, council members said they were confident the building would draw additional reliable tenants.

“I think once we put it out … there’s going to be a good bit of interest,” Councilmember RJ Konkoleski said. He added that one space has already been designated for food service and another for retail.

Konkoleski noted that while the space is smaller than it appears, it is manageable. He explained that the building has two floors for business purposes, while the upstairs will serve as community meeting space. An elevator and restrooms will be available on the second floor, but no cooking will be permitted there. Instead, the area will have a microwave, refrigerator and sink.

“We can’t prepare food there,” Konkoleski said. “You can’t take raw food and cook it there. It puts us in a whole different class health code-wise, and we do not want to get into that up there.”

Food could be prepared in the basement space, which meets health code requirements, and then transported upstairs by elevator.

Council also reviewed updates related to the AMLER or Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program and ongoing preliminary architectural studies. Konkoleski said about $44,000 in costs will count toward the village’s more than $2 million grant and will be the first of many expenses.

“Before it’s all said and done we’ll probably spend about $300,000 on what they call pre-construction services, which is your architecture, surveying, environmental study and environmental impact study,” Konkoleski said.

He added that bridges connected to the project were found to be in “great shape” after inspection. However, a real estate issue remains, and Village Solicitor Adam Martello suggested an executive session, which council later entered.