STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Under an agreement approved by Jefferson County commissioners, Youngstown State University would take ownership of a classroom building at the former Eastern Gateway Community College.

“We’re going to convey it to them,” Commissioner Tony Morelli said. “They will take ownership of the building.”

Jefferson commissioner approved an agreement Monday morning calls for a survey of the remaining campus property and its division into two parcels. The parcel that includes the building would go to YSU to open a campus and the county would keep the other parcel – as well as the mineral rights – for economic development. The agreement includes a retainer clause that calls for the building to return to the county if it ceases to be used for educational purposes, Morelli said.

“I’m very, very happy,” he said. “I think Youngstown State coming here is one of the best things that’s happened to the county in a long, long time. There’s not a bunch of four-year universities calling us saying, ‘Hey, can we buy or lease that building that’s empty?’ So I think it’s a godsend that they do want it, and we will have a four-year university here in Jefferson County.”

He’s optimistic that will happen, he said.

Although Jefferson County won’t charge for the building under the agreement, YSU assumes maintenance and liability, the commissioner said.

Last week, the Eastern Gateway Community College Governance Authority, the entity established to oversee the shutdown of the former community college, voted to authorize Chairwoman Kimberly Murnieks to “execute any agreements, conveyances and other documents needed to formalize the tentative agreement” with commissioners to resolve litigation. 

Murnieks is also the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. 

In late July, commissioners asked a judge to activate a reverter clause in the building deed calling for the building to return to Jefferson County if it ceased to be used for educational purposes. A hearing is set for early next month.

In response to a public records request Monday by The Business Journal, an OBM attorney said via email that negotiations have been verbal and no tentative agreement has been drafted.

In a statement last week, YSU said that the university would “continue to work with the appropriate state and Jefferson County officials to secure a pathway so that YSU can begin delivering quality education there at the former EGCC campus in Steubenville…”

Eastern Gateway, which was based in Steubenville and operated a campus in downtown Youngstown, ceased operations last year amid financial and accreditation challenges. Many of the problems stemmed from its free college benefit program which enabled union members and their families from across the country to attend classes and earn degrees from the school at no cost to them. Most attended virtually and EGCC enrollment increased about four-fold.

The U.S. Department of Education alleged that the college was charging federal Pell grant recipients more than students who didn’t receive the grants. The college stopped the program which it offered through a contract with an outside provider and enrollment dropped.

Shortly after EGCC’s shutdown, YSU officials announced intentions to open a campus in Jefferson County to serve those students. But the former college’s legal issues had prevented it from happening.

YSU added more than 50 certificate and associate degree programs to serve former Eastern Gateway students at the main campus.