MEDINA – Higher than expected estimates to renovate the offices of Medina County’s Adult Probation Department may have doomed the latest in a series of suggestions to upgrade working conditions there.

A preliminary estimate for needed repairs to the offices in the basement of the old courthouse came in near $1 million although that estimate was still subject to refinement, according to County Commissioner Bill Hutson.

“I don’t think I can justify putting that kind of money into renovating those offices,” said Hutson. “I think we should look at other alternatives.”

Other alternatives have been a little hard to come by, however. County officials have been looking for alternatives ever since Chief Probation Officer Veronica Perry made a plea for better facilities more than a year ago.

County officials thought they had an alternative when they were presented with the option of moving the Adult Probation Department into a commercial office building across the street from the courthouse. However, the management of the office building withdrew its lease offer.

Medina City Council also threw some cold water on the move in February by reminding county commissioners they pledged not to move any departments when the city agreed to build the parking deck behind the courthouse.

As a result, county officials hired Silling Associates to do an estimate on possible upgrades to the current offices holding Adult Probation.

“There’s no easy fix to the problem,” said County Administrator Scott Miller. “Every option we have comes with significant challenges.

Hutson toured the Adult Probation offices recently and does not question that they are substandard.

“It’s very crowded down there, the passages are narrow and the offices are not ADA (American with Disabilities Act) compliant,” he said.

The minimum improvements required would probably involving tearing down some walls, building new ones and installing some ramps or lifts that would enable a wheelchair to navigate the space. Hutson said additional upgrades are needed to the electrical service, heating and air conditioning and fire safety systems.

Adult Probation has a staff of 20 people occupying makeshift offices formed in a warren of hallways and tunnels in the basement of the original county courthouse building. Staff size has more than doubled since Perry joined the department in 2000. The staff supervises about 1,000 probationers a year.

According to Perry, crowding is an issue for her department but privacy is a bigger problem since probation officers often must do confidential interviews in rooms shared with other staffers.

County officials have been aware of the need to upgrade the Adult Probation offices for at least a decade. The inadequacies of those offices were among the reasons county commissioners planned to expand and renovate the courthouse and hired Silling Architects to design plans for the project in 2008.

The total cost of the expansion was then estimated at $13.4 million and commissioners were on the verge of moving forward with the project when the Great Recession hit, tax revenue dropped significantly, and the courthouse expansion plan was put on the shelf.

Miller said the original courthouse expansion and renovation plan, which includes the offices of the Adult Probation Department, could probably move forward if county officials follow through with a proposal to raise the county income tax.

Miller said county commissioners are soon expected to review a proposal to place an issue on the November ballot that could raise the county income tax by 0.25 percent.