A DONE DEAL — Jefferson County Commissioners, from left, Eric Timmons, Tony Morelli and Jake Kleineke, Monday signed off on paperwork that returned the former old Eastern Gateway Community College building and grounds back to the county. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — After months of uncertainty, the 84-acre Eastern Gateway Community College building and grounds are officially back in county hands.

At a special meeting Monday morning, commissioners confirmed EGCC officials had conveyed the property in its entirety to the county and, in exchange, they were dropping a lawsuit against the trustees that had sought to enforce a 57-year-old reverter clause that had been included in the original deed ensuring the land itself, once home to the county infirmary, would be returned to their control should it cease to be used for educational purposes.

The deal with EGCC clears the path for Youngstown State University to officially explore the feasibility of developing a satellite campus on the site–something its top administrators have been talking about since the EGCC board of trustees announced 18 months ago they didn’t have the money to continue operating.

But after signing documents accepting the property transfer, Commissioner Tony Morelli cautioned there’s more to be done: YSU still must do its due diligence, which includes financing and arranging staffing, before they can proceed. Attorneys involved in the process say that could take at least two-and-a-half months to accomplish.

In the interim, the county will be covering utilities and upkeep at the facility that sits along Sunset Boulevard — something Morelli said is doable for a few months, but over the long term would strain the budget.

“I’ve had people say it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to the county,” Morelli said after signing the documents accepting the property transfer. “I can’t think of anything bigger. But the way I see it, if YSU did not move into the county, the only way we could keep that building properly is we’d have to go back to the taxpayers because we currently do not have the funding to even maintain it. We can do it for a few months but that’s about it.”

He said in his conversations with YSU President Bill Johnson, the former congressman made it clear he “is 100 percent about coming to Jefferson County, abut YSU coming.”

“It’s about funding, like it is with everything,” he said. “I think they’re working on it with the Department of Higher Education and the state of Ohio. But we had nothing until this agreement — now, there’s a lot of positives. We have the property, the hottest property, I think, in Jefferson County … I’ve personally had developers who are with large companies tell me that. It’s also good for the community.”

Prosecuting Attorney Jane Hanlin, whose office was heavily involved in the process, said it’s “a great thing” for Jefferson County.

“We know that YSU is interested and I am hopeful that they do end up becoming the new local college here,” Hanlin said. “They obviously need a little more time to do what Commissioner Morelli referred to as their ‘due diligence’ to see what all would be necessary for them to get that location up and running as a college, and that will happen now.

“There’s a lot of work involved in this because losing a local college is a big blow to a small community like ours,” she said. “And the other issue that the commissioners are tasked with is protecting the rights of the taxpayers — and if EGCC wasn’t going to operate as a college anymore, then we needed for that property to return to Jefferson County. They accomplished that through this agreement.”

Hanlin and commissioners applauded the work of Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Blake, who shepherded county officials through the months-long litigation process.

“We would not be here, we would not have come this far without the prosecuting attorney’s office they’ve done a tremendous job,” Morelli said. “We’ve had lots of conversations … and ended up here. We didn’t own the building before, we do now, so I’ll mention it (again) — with that comes a great opportunity for economic development.”

Commissioners plan to hang onto some of the grounds — primarily, the area that sits at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and John Scott Highway, as well as the stretch of land that runs along John Scott from the campus to where the Applebee’s restaurant is located — to ensure the property is self-sustaining far into the future.

“There are great benefits for the county,” he said. “We get the property and the building back, then, hopefully, it goes to YSU — lots of good things (come from that.) They’ll need to hire professors, they’ll need employees, to staff it. At one of the meetings they said they want to try to hire as many people who were working here when it was a EGCC, and see if they can come to an agreement to work for them here. That’s why two, two-and-a-half months, is needed for them to do their due diligence, that’s probably the best way to say it.”