Plans to sell Beacon House shelved

SANDUSKY — The local mental health board has shelved, at least for now, a proposed attempt to sell Beacon House, a west Sandusky facility that provides housing for people dealing with mental illness.Beacon House, at 3240 Venice Road, consists of two facilities that have 16 beds.A five-bed home is staffed 24 hours a day by Volunteers of America and is for residents who need intense supervision; an 11-bed facility in a former hotel functions more as an independent living facility and is run by a real estate company, said Brenda Cronin, executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Erie and Ottawa counties, in a recent interview with the Register. The mental health board had a request for proposals to sell the 11-bed building on its agenda when the board met Tuesday at Firelands Counseling and Recovery. The board generally tries to avoid directly providing services and wanted to discuss paying another owner to operate it.A minimum bid of $467,000 would have been required. Any buyer would have been required to use it for the same purpose, providing housing to people with mental illnesses.During discussions, board member Craig Stahl suggested the Beacon House location would be an ideal spot for an electronic sign, similar to the new sign on Cleveland Road in Huron, west of Rye Beach Road. Money from such a sign could be used to make improvements to the building, Stahl said.During discussions, Lisa Crescimano, the board's chief financial officer, said trying to sell the building would cost the board money, as it would have to pay for legal notices and have an outside appraisal done."It's going to cost us for something I don't think is going to be successful," she said.Crescimano said that because the state provided Mental Health Capital Assistance Funds in 2009 when the board acquired the building, the state imposed a requirement that it be used for housing for mental health patients for 40 years. There are still 30 years left in that agreement, making the property difficult to market, as only one use would be allowed, Crescimano said.On a motion from Charles Murray, the board voted unanimously to table the request for proposals and explore Stahl's proposal to have an electronic sign on the property.Later in the meeting, Karen Russell, site director for Firelands Counseling and Recovery, told the board that Beacon House provides an important service.There is limited housing in the area for people with severe and persistent mental illness, and there are people placed at Beacon House 10 years ago who have since then been able to avoid being hospitalized, Russell said. For some residents, it is the first safe place they have ever lived, she said.Murray replied he believes the board should avoid owning real estate but believes the board should work to develop mental health housing for the community."I don't recommend we get out of serving the community," he said.Beacon House was one of the achievements for Crescimano, who is leaving soon as the board's chief financial officer.Crescimano discovered after taking over the board had paid real estate taxes for Beacon House, something that should not happen for a government-owned property. The board paid about $106,700 in property taxes over several years. Crescimano was able to recover $51,500, although time had expired for recovering the other $55,000.Since the board no longer pays taxes for Beacon House, the board now almost breaks even running it, Crescimano said.Beacon House on Venice Road serves as a home for clients of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Erie and Ottawa Counties.