DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. in the Conference Room of the Board of Defiance County Commissioners, 500 Court Street, Suite A, Defiance, Ohio 43512, on Monday, January 31, 2004. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Otto L. Nicely. Also present were Commissioners Thomas L. Kime and Richard L. Cromwell; Becky Wagner, Administrator; Alison Grimes, Clerk and Joan Brown, Deputy Clerk.

8:30 a.m. General Session Commissioners approved and signed various resolutions, contracts and documents, approved several travel requests, reviewed the agenda items and the calendar of events, discussed upcoming meetings and updated information for the calendar of events.

The Board signed a letter of support for the Village of Sherwood to be included in their application packet to NatureWorks for grant funding for the Sherwood Park project.

Duane Rupp, West Unity, was re-appointed as Defiance County Apiary Inspector for FY 2005. The apiary season runs approximately March 15 through October 31.

Rick Weaver, Poggemeyer Design Group, called in during session to let the Board know that, on behalf of the County, Poggemeyer was submitting a letter of intent to the Ohio Department of Transportation regarding the “Rails to Trails” program.

9:30 a.m. Will Burns, Maumee Valley Planning, stopped in briefly to explain some of the data on paperwork the Board was requested to sign. The group reviewed the active Revolving Loan Fund accounts and afterwards the Board approved and signed the Semi-Annual Revolving Loan Fund report and the Microenterprise Loan report.

10:00 a.m. Warren Schlatter, County Engineer, met with the Board with his weekly update. The group reviewed the distribution of funds from ODOT for the Elliot Road/Route 24 project.

The group also discussed the removal of trees with Warren. During right-of-way work, the Engineer’s department removes many county trees, usually because the tree is a safety issue. The Board asked if a policy could be created so an equal number of new trees are planted to compensate for the removal of existing trees. Various replacement ideas were discussed but no specific decisions were made. The Board will work with the Engineer to possibly create some type of policy. As was noted in last week’s news release, 36,531 trees were planted throughout Defiance County in 2004.

10:30 a.m. Nancy Porter, Defiance County Humane Society, met with the Board regarding the Shelter’s finances. Also attending was: Randy Vogel, Dog Warden; Josh O’Hara, Jo Ann Lieberman and Linda Certa of the Humane Shelter.

The Humane Shelter has requested an increase in their budget. The Shelter currently receives $30,000 per year and is asking for an increase of $15,000 per year for a total of $45,000 to be

used for the overall operation of the Shelter. One full-time and four part-time employees currently work at the Shelter. Ms. Porter felt there should be at least 2 full-time employees.

The Shelter brings in about $5,000 during their yearly Monte Carlo fund raiser, which is their largest fund-raising event. After discussion, the Board informed Shelter personnel that they would review their request for funding and get back to them with their response.

11:00 a.m. Tim Houck, Landfill Manager, met with the Board to present his monthly update.

He reviewed the figures from 2004, noting that 113,540.22 tons and 313,787 cubic yards of waste were accepted at the Landfill. The Hicksville Transfer Station on Gingrich Road took in a total of $10,671.76, down slightly from previous years.

Efforts to auction the two houses on landfill property failed and Tim’s office will either offer the buildings to the fire department for practice or have the buildings torn down.

The road collection crew surpassed the 905 miles litter pick-up collection required by the litter grant by 6.5 miles.

Tim noted that his office received a letter from the Ohio EPA noting that violations received when the Landfill was exceeding the ton-per-year limit for non-methane organic compounds were resolved when the Landfill submitted a Permit-To-Install (PTI) application to address the exceedances in June, 2004.

The next Solid Waste District meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 25 at 1:30 p.m. at Paulding County.

1:30 p.m. Heather Huffman, “Help Me Grow” project coordinator, met with the Board to present a program update. She reviewed 2004 data, noting that 121 new referrals were received throughout the year (averaging 20 to 22 per month) and 94 newborn home visits were performed. The “Help Me Grow” program assists children aged 0 through 3 years.

“Help Me Grow”, an Ohio Family and Children First initiative, and the Family and Children First Council have both moved into offices in the Commissioners’ Annex. Their new address is 500 Court Street, Suite F, Defiance, Ohio 43512. For further information, their website is available at: www.helpmegrowdefiance.com and the phone number is 419.782.6934 or 888.648.8732.

After meeting with Ms. Huffman, the Board held a Study Session and reviewed documentation concerning the railroad spur for Standridge Corporation. Jerry Hayes, Economic Development, also attended.

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 3:0 0 p.m.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Otto L. Nicely, Commissioner