County sells vacant developmental disabilities center in Bath

by Laura Bednar

The office of Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro recently sold the former site of a Summit County Developmental Disabilities center at 340 N. Cleveland Massillon Rd.

The site is 7.9 acres and was sold to TKM Global Technologies for $900,000, according to a resolution authorizing the sale. Colleen Kelly of the Summit County Executive Office Department of Administration and Public Information said the proceeds will go to the developmental disabilities board because it made investments in the property over time.

Billie Jo David, director of communication and Major Unusual Incidents at the board, said the board had not operated out of the location for about 10 years.

“It was used to provide day programs for adults with disabilities that included vocational training and habilitation services,” she said. “Prior to 2019 … services were provided by both Summit DD and private disability service providers in the community for more than 2,600 adults with developmental disabilities.”

The building wasn’t needed after a federal law prevented the Summit DD from providing direct service to residents. To comply, the board transitioned each adult to a private provider in the county.

“The law required them to phase out direct services, and they were off-loading properties because of this,” said Kelly.

In the past three years, Summit DD has implemented a plan to sell larger, older facilities and renovate newer and smaller facilities in Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton to house administrative operations, according to David.

“While the adults that were served at our Bath and other locations are now receiving … services from private providers, the local portion of funding for those services, service coordination, and service monitoring and oversight still come from Summit DD,” David said. ∞