DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2003

NEWS RELEASE

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met 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, June 16, 2003. The meeting was called to order by Thomas Kime, Chairman. Present were Commissioners Thomas L. Kime, Otto L. Nicely and Richard L. Cromwell. Also present was Becky Wagner, Administrator, Alison Grimes, Clerk and Joan Brown, Deputy Clerk.

8:30 a.m. General Session – Commissioners approved and signed various resolutions 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.

Commissioners reviewed the activities held over the weekend regarding the Bicentennial Bell casting. The event was well-attended and the various musical groups and speaker Randy Buchman were well-received. The Board thanked County employees Deb Bloomfield, Ron Cereghin and Mark Hall for their assistance with the event.

During General Session, the Board approved the purchase of a trailer from the Verdin Company, who cast Defiance’s Bicentennial bell. The trailer is specially constructed to hang and transport the bell from location to location as it will be, at least for now, portable. The Board also bought two small Bicentennial bells which will be placed on display in the County.

10:00 a.m. Gaylon Davis, County Engineer, met with the Board to present his weekly update. He reviewed the latest ODOT road closures/repairs list. He also requested and received authorization to proceed with road right-of-way and approval of plans for the following bridge replacement projects:

• Defiance-Putnam County Line Road Bridge (DEF TR-1/PUT TR-A), Defiance County
• Scott Road Bridge, .35 miles east of Rosedale Road, Defiance County
• Buckskin Road Bridge, .30 miles west of Breininger Road, Defiance County
• Cicero Road Bridge, .02 miles north of Beerbower Road, Defiance County

Mr. Davis also noted that the 2003 paving projects are approximately 65% completed.

10:30 a.m. Diane Mayer, Tina Hiler, Delinda Chavez and Robin Justus, Senior Services Center, met with the Board to present an update of services and activities. Several intergenerational programs were held in June, the latest being last week where teens helped seniors with general clean up of their homes.

The Senior Services Center has applied for 13 different grants for specific equipment purchases and program enhancement.

Two seminars on Spiritual Eldering are scheduled for June 17^th and 18^th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The seminar on the 17^th will be held at the Hicksville Senior Center and the Defiance Senior Center will host the seminar on the 18^th.

Tina met with Susan Mack, Hicksville Hospital, to discuss and coordinate services with a Dial-A-Ride type of program the hospital is attempting to initiate.

Two staff members will give a presentation, “Best Rural Programs”, at the upcoming National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs Annual Conference Friday, June 27^th. Both the Wood County Senior Services and the Defiance County Senior Services centers were asked to provide this presentation as they were the first two centers in Ohio to be nationally accredited and both are considered to be outstanding rural programs in the nation.

All the Farmer’s Market coupon books (250) were distributed by June 2^nd and more have been requested. Over $21,000 worth of coupons will be redeemed by seniors at local produce vendors. A senior must be over age 60 to get a coupon book. The vouchers are good for produce from various area producers. Contact the Senior Services Center for more information at 782-3233.

The Senior Services Auxiliary will be holding an auction June 28^th at the Defiance High School parking lot. Proceeds will go to the Center’s Building Fund. The concession stand will also be open.

At 11:03 a.m., Diane requested EXECUTIVE SESSION regarding Personnel (ORC 121.22 (G) (1). After EXECUTIVE SESSION ended, Commissioners approved the hiring of an Assistant Business Manager. Diane will contact the prospective applicant.

11:07 a.m. Beth Schrader, Imaging Office Systems, gave a presentation to the Board and staff members from the Commissioner’s office, the Treasurer’s office, the Auditor’s office, the Records Center, Microfilming, the Clerk of Courts and Probate Court. Imaging Office Systems offers equipment and software to assist businesses with document management, microfilming and image management. Ms. Schrader will be setting up one-on-one meetings with interested departments to determine each department’s imaging needs.

1:30 p.m. Amy Murphy, Family and Children First Council, gave an update of activities from her department. She received the Audit Report from the State. The only recommendation from them was to form an audit committee which had already been addressed as a finance committee has been formed.

The 4H ROCKS (reading program) kick-off will be at the Sherwood Library on June 20^th.

Amy also noted that the Family Resource Center is being utilized by various groups more this year than last year.

2:00 p.m. John Ferland and Jim Harris, representing the Regional Airport Authority Board, met with the Commissioners to review information regarding a federal grant to rebuild the taxiways at the Airport. ODOT has grant funding of $140,000 to assist in replacing or repairing the two main taxiways at the airport. To obtain the grant, the Airport needs to come up with $50,000 in matching funds to complete the project. The Airport Authority Board requested financial assistance from the County to obtain the $50,000. The Board agreed to assist the Airport financially by advancing the funds and the Airport will reimburse the County as funds become available. Mr. Ferland will contact ODOT and request more detailed information regarding the grant.

2:30 p.m. Rick Edmonds, Director, and Barb Acomb, Principal of Good Samaritan School, and Amy Murphy, Director of Family and Children First Council, met with the Board regarding a paperwork and communication issue between Family and Children First and Good Sam. After discussion, the two groups will be more diligent regarding communications and forwarding paperwork.

3:15 p.m. The Board called Kirk Slusser, Ohio Department of Transportation, to discuss dates for a meeting in early July with Kirk, Jerry Hayes of the Economic Development office, a representative from the City and an engineer from Parsons/Brinkerhoff, engineering firm, regarding the West High Street intersection.

Today’s meeting adjourned at 3:36 p.m.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Commissioner