NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 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, June 27, 2005. 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. Russ Herman, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, met with the Board to review various documents pending his review/approval. Currently, Mr. Herman is up-to-date on county documentation.

Jerry Overmier, Beilharz Architects, Project Architect for the Defiance County-East project, stopped in briefly to review telecommunication integration information. Ron Cereghin, Maintenance Supervisor, also attended. Most of the telephone equipment currently in use by the departments moving to DC-E will be utilized in the new facility. The group discussed the project timeline and coordinating installation with Mike Koenig, Koenig Security, who will be installing the phone system. Finally, Mr. Overmier submitted artwork for the directory that will be placed in Defiance County-East for the Board’s review.

9:00 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.

10:00 a.m. Warren Schlatter, Defiance County Engineer, met with the Board to present a brief weekly update. He submitted ODOT’s traffic advisory which noted that Ohio 2, north of Hicksville is reduced to one lane for pavement repairs.

Warren also submitted his department’s job costing account for the Adams Ridge Road Bridge Project. Total project cost was $51,581.89.

He also noted that the Commerce Drive project (by the Johns-Manville plant on Carpenter Road) is progressing well and is on schedule and Banner School Road bridge is now open to traffic. Watson Road is scheduled to be re-opened Monday evening.

10:30 a.m. Tim Houck, Landfill Manager, met with the Board for a brief Landfill update. A total of 49,936.17 tons of waste have been accepted at the Landfill to date.

Tim noted that a temporary, seasonal position at the Landfill has been filled. Seven employees from the Landfill/Environmental Services attended the recently-held confined space training.

The road collection crew has picked up 418.9 miles of county roadway to date and is on track with the yearly total of 905 miles, per grant requirements.

The next Solid Waste District meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 18 at 1:30 p.m. Defiance County will be the host.

11:00 p.m. Larry Woods, First Insurance and Investments and Ginny Shrimplin and John Brownlee, Jr., CORSA (County Risk Sharing Authority) met with the Board with a CORSA renewal update. Also attending was Mark Hopper, Public Safety Services. Ginny informed the Board that regional meeting are being scheduled to update members on, among other items, risk management features and renewal information. She also noted that CORSA’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for Friday, August 19 at the Concourse Hotel in Columbus.

Larry Woods submitted paperwork and on behalf of the Board Commissioner Nicely signed the insurance forms for the Airport Authority.

John Brownlee, Jr. reviewed data regarding the County’s loss experience for the Board’s review.

1:30 p.m. Linda Maag, State Auditor-in-Charge, met with the Board for the County’s Exit Audit. Also attending the meeting were: Steve Flickinger and Kevin Weisman, State Auditor’s office; Beth Hansen-Overmier, State Auditor’s office, Toledo branch; Tina Hiler, Senior Services Center; Mary Davis, Health Department; Marlene Goodwin, Sharon Scheuerman and Barb Lasek, County Auditor’s office; Russ Herman, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and Warren Schlatter, Engineer’s office.

As it is a State Auditor’s meeting, the Commissioner’s normal meeting was suspended.

3:00 p.m. Ken Maag, Poggemeyer Design Group, met briefly with the Board for a projects update. First, Ken submitted paperwork for the Board’s signature (Certificate of Substantial Completion) regarding the Indian Bridge Lane project.

Mr. Maag then reviewed plans for the proposed sewer system at the county Airport. One option was strictly using grinder pumps; the other consisted of all force main. Both option costs are estimated at over $300,000. Commissioners asked that the costs be broken down for a more detailed review. The Board will review the options, check for possible funding sources and inform Poggemeyer of their decision.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Otto L. Nicely, Commissioner