Clinton Township trustees end move into new building

10/5/2005

WAUSEON - Clinton Township trustees have moved their offices from a rented storefront on South Fulton Street across from the Fulton County Courthouse to a new building on County Road 15-1.

The trustees built a 60-by-60 shop and 40-by-40 space for a meeting room, restrooms, and a mechanical room behind another shop they have used since the 1970s. The cost of the steel building, which was started in June, was $254,000, trustee Brett Kolb said.

It sits in a tiny section of the township that is encompassed by the city of Wauseon but is not part of the city.

The trustees had been renting space at 149 South Fulton St. since February, 2002. Rent, not including utilities, had started at $600 a month and risen to $645 this year for about 1,500 square feet.

For decades, the trustees had met on the second floor of the Wauseon municipal building rented at a cost of $150 a month, including utilities. They lost room there when the city decided to convert space into quarters for emergency medical workers. When that decision was made, the trustees decided to rent while they built a a new shop and a meeting room.

The shop they've used for decades behind their new building is too small to easily maneuver some large equipment, trustees have said.

Although the trustees' meetings often draw only four people - the three trustees and the clerk - they wanted a sizeable space. The trustees have had 50 to 75 people attend zoning hearings. When they were in the municipal building, they could borrow city council chambers for such meetings.