NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2007

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session on Thursday, February 22, 2007, at 8:30 a.m., in the Conference Room of the Defiance County Commissioners, 500 Court Street, Defiance, OH 43512. Commissioner Otto L. Nicely called the meeting to order. Also present were Commissioners Thomas L. Kime, James E. Harris, Jr., Becky Wagner, County Administrator, Lyla Gurwell, Clerk and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk.

General Session – The Commissioners were presented with various resolutions and documents for approval. The Commissioners reviewed agenda items, discussed upcoming meetings, and reviewed and updated the calendar of events.

The Commissioners met with Wayne Olsson, and Laura Howell from the Board of Elections. Wayne submitted two service contract quotes from Diebold Election Systems. One quote was for the May and November elections and is extremely specific as to the services received and only covers specific tasks for a specific day or time period. If more services were required, the contract would be extremely expensive. The second quote is less specific as to services required and less specific on time constraints. Upon recommendation of Wayne Olsson, the Commissioners decided to go with the less time specific quote. The Commissioners feel the contract with Diebold Elections Systems is one of the unfunded mandates from the State of Ohio. This years service contact will cost the residents of the county approximately $33,000.

The Commissioners also signed the contracts for the new Central Telephone System that will be installed within approximately ten (10) County agencies.

The Commissioners also signed the agreement with the Wood County Commissioners for housing of juveniles at the Wood County Juvenile Detention Center. This agreement provides all pharmaceutical, hospitalization, transportation and all other costs associated with the housing and treatment of juveniles housed in the facility. The contract is renewable on January 1, 2008.

County Administrator Becky Wagner submitted her report to the Board. Becky reported meeting with the employees at Defiance County Job & Family Services regarding the recent hiring of former Fulton County Commissioner, Jack Graf. Jack was hired on Tuesday, February 20 as Interim Director.

Becky also mentioned speaking with Bob Arend with Arend Enterprises regarding the transfer of data to a new server. Bob indicated that he would be able to transfer most of the data himself without adding the additional cost to hire an outside source.

The Commissioners met with Tim Houck with Environmental Services. Tim submitted his monthly financial report for 2006-2007. The annual sales summary total for January was $271,730. The annual tons total to date is 8,373, annual cubic yards for January was 34,795.

Tim also reported on the yearly/ monthly cubic yard comparison for 2007 is 34,795 vs. 23,287 for this same time in 2006.

The yearly monthly tons comparison submitted for 2007 was 8,373 tons vs. 9,265 for January 2006.

Leachate monthly gallon total for the month of January is 98,910.

The Planning Board elected new officers. Commissioner Otto Nicely was elected as the

Chairman and Hicksville Mayor Larry Haver was elected as the Vice-chairman for 2007.

The Board also met with the Planning Commission and mentioned that Ted Penner was elected as a

new member of the Planning Commission.

The Commissioners also reappointed Defiance County Engineer Warren Schlatter, Craig Richards,

Director of Environmental Health, and Robert Colwell, Township Representative to the Planning

Commission. Their terms will expire on January 31, 2010.

The Board reviewed some concerns regarding the sewage system regulations in Defiance County. The Defiance County Subdivision Regulations require that all subdivisions and lot splits be reviewed by the Health Department for approval of the private sewage disposal system to be used. Regulations that will apply include components of the system serving a dwelling must be on the same property as the dwelling, adequate land must be available to replace the sewage treatment system should this become necessary and the system must be adequate to handle the wastes from the home without causing a nuisance.

The next meeting of the Planning Commission is scheduled for March 22, 2007.

News Release Approved: ____________________________________________________ Otto L. Nicely, Defiance County Commissioner