County Chase Bank Deal Dropped

February 1, 2024 by Amy Patterson

Geauga County Commissioners announced Jan. 30 they are no longer planning to purchase the Chase Bank building on Chardon Square.

The decision was made after difficulties and delays arose when two departments — the Geauga County Adult Probation and the Law Library — were moving out of the basement of the courthouse as part of the renovation of that building.

The departments, which faced a deadline of Feb. 1 to vacate their current space in the courthouse, will be moved to the county-owned Opera House at 211 Main Street.

After an hours-long executive session Jan. 30, Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri said the county has determined the offices can be accommodated in that space.

“We are going to move forward to send a letter over to the owners of the Chase building and basically cancel the transaction and move forward to just working with our, you know, other elected officials to be able to make what room is necessary there and what accommodations we need to,” Spidalieri said.

After construction is complete, departments now forced to move will be placed back into the courthouse, saving the county potentially millions of dollars long-term, he added.

At their meeting Jan. 23, Commissioner Tim Lennon openly questioned why the purchasing process, which began in early November, was languishing in Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz’s office. In comments at the time, Lennon questioned whether Flaiz was intentionally delaying the process.

On Jan. 30, Lennon said he may have gotten “a little too aggressive” in his comments on the purchase process last week.

“I’d just like to thank the prosecutor and (Assistant County Prosecutor Laura Lachapelle) and … apologize for, you know, really any negative comments that I made towards the way you guys were handling this,” Lennon said. “A lot of it comes down to communication and if you don’t know all the details. I agree that there were a couple pieces that were missing.”

Lennon, who is not running for re-election, added he feels the Chase building property is still potentially a good, strategic purchase for the county at some point in the future and that the dollar amount they were prepared to pay for the building was “right in the wheelhouse,” even taking into account some of the challenges posed by the condition of the building.

“After I’m gone, maybe they’ll reconsider and go back and try and look at purchasing that piece of property because I think it gives the county flexibility and (gets us out) of these old buildings,” he said.

Flaiz thanked commissioners for working with his staff and said he will draft a letter to the Chase building owner explaining the county’s decision.