Location. Location. Location. And an impressive PowerPoint presentation made by Governor Wolf Building employees helped Northampton County Council approve a lease-agreement for a centralized human services building.

By an 8-1 vote, a previously divided council gave the Stoffa administration the go-ahead to move forward with a lease-purchase agreement for a 66,375-square-foot, three-story building with 256 parking spaces at 2801 Emrick Boulevard between Freemansburg Avenue and William Penn Highway. The lease, with an option to purchase in five years, would cost $1 million a year.

Jim Gentile of Polaris Emrick Development, whose company owns the 5.36 acre lot, said the building should be operational in a year and would be energy-efficient to operate.

But Steve Barron, county controller, opposed the project, saying the county would be paying a premium for this lease: "You could do it cheaper," Barron advised.

However, a packed meeting room was on hand at council's Feb. 21 meeting to show support for the plan to centralize the county's Human Services offices into a new state-of the-art building.

These services are now provided at the historic Governor Wolf Building in Easton and the Martin J. Bechtel Building in Bethlehem. Both buildings are currently owned by the county but need millions of dollars in capital improvements.

Supporters' strongest argument was that the county would be spending this money to rehabilitate the older buildings when for the same amount they could have use of a brand new building.

Some people pointed to the state of disrepair of these buildings to indicate that the county does not put enough of the budget money into maintenance and does a poor job when it comes to owning property.

Ken Mohr of Mohr Management said there is already a developer interested in purchasing the Wolf Building. The restoration work needed would return the Wolf Building to a Class A building rating and keep a historic Easton landmark operational.

Mayor Sal Panto of Easton was on hand to provide a history lesson: George Wolf was the only governor from Northampton County and many residents value the building's history. Schoolchildren saved pennies for the construction of the Penny Arch, the stone entry to the building. The Bechtel building would also be sold to raise capital for the new centralized human services facility.

By far the Wolf Building visuals of missing ceiling tiles, chipped lead paint on window sills, asbestos issues, mold on floors and ceilings, dangling wires and cramped and inadequate spaces to interview parents and children in child-abuse investigations drove home the point to council members that the status quo was not an option for the county. The well-received slideshow was presented by two Children, Youth and Family child-abuse investigators.

Under a five-year lease, it would cost the county $21.5 million and the project would be done in a year. If the county were to build and own its own facility, it would take more than two years and money would need to be borrowed for the project, which would cost $21.3 million, not including interest on the loan.

While Councilman Bob Werner said he supported the work of the Human Services Department, he was the single "no" vote. Werner said he did not think the Wolf building was falling down around people's ears and that it was too risky to spend taxpayer money to enter into a lease agreement. Werner thought exploring more energy-efficient building designs would save the county money now and in the future.

"The sky won't fall if we don't act on this lease," Werner added.

Kevin Dolan, the county's Children and Youth administrator, reminded council that it's not just about a building. The families served by the county need a one-stop shop for everyone. These families have minimal resources for transportation and there are more cases where there are crossovers and more violence to address. The new building has easy access to bus transportation routes and major highways and better security for employees and clients. Families are dealing with issues that often involve veteran's benefits, drug and alcohol interventions and grandparents as caregivers, Dolan said.