CORTLAND, Ohio (WKBN) – There was a special meeting on Thursday for the Trumbull County Board of Health and it was held in a special place. It could be an important first step toward a major change.

Property tours are always exciting, and this one had it for the potential buyer and seller. The Trumbull County Board of Health was looking at the former Farmers National Bank location in Cortland.

“The property is intriguing because it meets a lot of the needs that the board has,” said county commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa.

The name is off the side of the building, which for many years was Cortland Bank before it was acquired by Farmers in 2021.

There are three levels. The first floor provides more space than the Combined Health District has currently.

“We’re so jammed for space, we have people working shoulder to shoulder. We can’t grow,” said Jack Simon with the Trumbull County Board of Health.

The Trumbull County Combined Health District was recognized for the work it did during COVID-19. It also teaches how to buckle children safely in car seats, protects people against rabies and inspects restaurants and grocery stores.

A move to Cortland would be a better geographic location — more in the county’s center.

“It would [better] serve the community. It would be easier for the community to utilize our programs that we can’t always do right now,” Simon said.

The health district has the funding to do more, it just doesn’t have the room. Current offices have been renovated, but there’s no way to add space. That is a common theme in Trumbull County government and it’s being looked at.

“Namely our dog pound, our 911 and our board of health. Those are the three that we’re really focused on. If we can do something to upgrade those facilities, we’re going to try to do that within reason,” Cantalamessa said.

This was just a first step. Nobody even mentioned the asking price or talked about money.

The next step would be setting up a meeting for all of the commissioners and the board of health to get together and talk about the idea.