The Butler County commissioners Wednesday awarded a contract not to exceed $41,000 to the Butler firm Burt Hill to be the engineer for the demolition of the old prison on Vogely Street.

The demolition requires an engineer because the site must be prepared for the eventual construction of a new building, which the county would use for office space.

If the firm also would be awarded a contract to design the construction project, that fee would be reduced because of familiarity with the site.

The contract was awarded in a 2 to 0 vote with one abstention. Commissioner James Kennedy said he couldn't vote on anything dealing with the firm due to personal reasons.

The commissioners also set the rate to house state inmates in the county prison at $60 a day.Warden Rich Gigliotti said none of the three unused inmate pods would be opened for state inmates. These inmates would be placed in open pods with available beds.Commissioner James Kennedy complained the rate was too low.Gigliotti said the rate is at the high end of what other prisons charge the state to house its inmates.Upon being questioned by Kennedy, Gigliotti conceded he did not know what every county prison's fee is.

The commissioners committed a spot in Diamond Park for a memorial commemorating Merchant Marines' efforts during World War II.The new monument would be on the grassy area to the left of the existing World War II memorial facing Main Street.Commissioner Dale Pinkerton said the size of the new monument has not been determined.

Using money collected from row office fees, the county will pay Iron Mountain Information Management $145,060 to reorganize more than 200,000 files from the register of wills, orphans court, clerk of courts and prothonotary.Register of Wills Judy Moser said the company also will relocate the numerous boxes and docket drawers to a larger vault at its Cherry Township site.Iron Mountain also will label all boxes with bar codes to increase efficiency.The county will pay Iron Mountain $58,800 for leasing the new vault in 2010.Moser said it would be too time-consuming for county employees to reorganize the records, some of which were first stored in the underground facility about 50 years ago.She said no county tax dollars will be used. The county has a fund derived from fees collected by the row offices, such as deed transfers.Moser said the balance of the records management fund will total about $400,000 after the county pays Iron Mountain as well as other costs, such as the implementation of online dog license applications and an electronic archiving system.The county is not permitted to use money in that fund for anything unrelated to improving official records.