NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2006

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, March 20, 2006. Chairman Thomas L. Kime called the meeting to order. Also present were Commissioner Richard Cromwell, Commissioner Otto Nicely, Administrator, Becky Wagner, Lyla Gurwell, Clerk and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk.

8:30 A.M. Russ Herman, Defiance County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney came in for his bi-weekly update.

Russ discussed the Environmental Covenant which has been pending with Wal-Mart. Russ indicated that he would follow up with Wal-Mart officials to find out if permitting approval has been received.

Russ also mentioned in spite efforts to obtain information on the American Ag Fuels Lease Agreement, no further update has been given on the status. Russ will make additional attempts to acquire further information and bring this topic back to Commissioners for further discussion during his next scheduled meeting.

9:00 A.M. Karen Tubbs, Defiance County Treasurer met with the Commissioner’s regarding a new tax billing system. Karen is working with a company from Newark, OH. Karen hopes the new system will be implemented by the next biannual billing cycle. With this new system, the tax bills will have an entirely different look and be printed on an 81/2 by 11 statement instead of the cards which have previously been used for Real Estate Tax billing. Karen indicated with the implementation of the new system, the county will be saving a considerable amount of money on postage by putting several tax bills with the same mailing address in one envelope.

9:15 A.M. General Session - The Commissioners were presented with various resolutions and documents for approval. Commissioners also reviewed agenda items, discussed upcoming meetings and reviewed and updated the calendar of events.

The Commissioners have scheduled a preliminary meeting for early April to review the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Hicksville, Richland and Noble Townships were invited to review the plan, which was originally developed in 2000 and needs to be reviewed and updated.

10:00 A.M. Warren Schlatter, Defiance County Engineer came in for several bid openings.

The Commissioner will take the following bids under advisement for 2006 Crack Seal, 2006 Paving of Various Roads, 2006 Issue II/LTIP Paving of Various Roads & 2006 Bridge Materials and will award the bids at a later date.

The bids presented for the 2006 Crack Seal were from GT Contracting, Archbold, OH - $75,616.00,

D.G. Slurry Seal, Holland, OH - $81,454.00 & Scodellar Construction from South Lion, MI - $65,816.50.

The bids presented for the 2006 LTIP Paving of Various Roads were from Brooks Construction Company, Inc., Ft. Wayne, IN - $445,322.60 and Gerken Paving, Napoleon, OH - $356,175.05.

The Bids presented for the 2006 Paving of Various Roads were from Gerken Paving, Napoleon, OH – Proposal A - Paving & Patching - $650,013.35, Proposal C - Force Account Work - $65,533.50, Proposal D – Village Work - $35,874.30 and Proposal E - $41,793.65. Ward Construction also presented bids for

Proposal B – Chip Seal - $203,842.70, Proposal C - $57,646.00, Proposal D - $34,785.75 and Proposal E - $36,552.65.

The Commissioners also accepted bids for the 2006 Bridge Materials. Those submitting bids were Fort Defiance, Defiance, OH - Fountain Street Roads – 0.3 MI E. of Lake Road - $54,635.00 and R.G. Zachrich Leasing, Defiance, OH - $58,996.00. Also bid Fountain Street Road – 0.45 MI West of Lake Road – Fort Defiance - $49,665.00 and R.G. Zachrich Leasing - $53,900.00. Glenburg Road – 0.3 MI North of Bostater Road – Fort Defiance Bid of $66,640.00 and R.G. Zachrich Leasing - $69,195.00. Behnfeldt Road – 0.4 Mi South of Blosser Road – Fort Defiance - $70,700.00 and R.G. Zachrich Leasing - $72,569.00.

10:30 A.M. Mike Boff, Defiance County Soil & Water came in for the Bid opening for Hammons Tile. The bids received came from S & S Directional Boring- Bryan, OH ($32,484.00), Rosengarten Construction Company – Ottawa, OH ($27,370.50), Meck-Donald’s Contracting – Archbold, OH ($24,990.00), Zenz Farms – Delta, OH ($29,792.00), Shininger Surface Drainage – Ney, OH ($34,478.50), Sand Ridge Excavating - Cloverdale, OH ($28,486.80), S.A. Sidle – Holgate, OH ($27,498.50). The Commissioners will take the bids under advisement and award each project at a later date.

11:00 A.M. Greg Reinhart, Defiance County Waste Water Operations and Ken Maag, Poggemeyer Design Group came in for an update.

The Waste Water Operations Department has begun inspecting for sump pumps in the express sewer district. Greg discussed a continuous water flow issue and believes part of the problem is sump pumps, down spouts with traps and clean outs.

Greg reported the wastewater office has been doing inspections on customer’s residents looking for clean water going into the sanitary sewer. Greg reported his office would be sending notice to all customers that he has been unable to make contact with. The notice will also state they will need to call his office to schedule a time to have the inspection completed. If the customers are hooked up incorrectly, they will receive a letter indicating they must correct the problem. After the problem is corrected, they will need to contact the Waste Water Operations Office for re-inspection.

1:30 P.M. Larry and Ray Plummer with R & L Enterprises came in to discuss the 690-acre Industrial Park project.

The Commissioners & R & L discussed the progress of the R & L Industrial Park project along with any outstanding issues that needed to be addressed. Commissioner’s will meet with their engineer and review the grade at the west side of the railroad spur. The Commissioner’s requested that R & L return a consent Judgment entry form that the prosecuting attorney is waiting for. The Commissioners will further discuss these issues and schedule a meeting with R & L Enterprises at a later date

2:30 P.M. Chris Hamilton from R.D Zande came in to discuss the Airport Sewer – Preliminary Plans. The Commissioners requested the Sanitary Engineer review the plans prior to approval. There are a few changes that need to be made prior to the approval. Those changes will be made by R. D. Zande engineers and re-submitted to the Commissioners for final approval.

News Release Approved: ________________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Commissioner