DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, JULY 28, 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, July 28, 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, 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.

9:30 a.m. Jane Tadsen and Marilyn Jurcevich, County Recorder’s office, and Marlene Goodwin, Sharon Scheuerman and Barb Lasek, Auditor’s office, met with the Board regarding House Bill 95. House Bill 95 doubles the various fees county recorders collect. The legislation refers to the service fees that the recorder currently charges as “base fees” and the increased fees to be levied on top of the “base fees” are called “housing trust fund fees”. These fees are to be collected beginning August 1 and should be accounted for in a separate fund. Fee payments are due every quarter to the State and if paid within the first thirty days of the quarter, 1% of these fees may be retained by the Recorder to cover administrative costs. The information Ms. Tadsen received was forwarded to the Prosecutor for his review and input. A new fund line will be created in which to deposit the 1%.

10:00 a.m. Gaylon Davis, County Engineer, presented his weekly update at this time. The Hopkins Street Bridge Project is progressing well; he drew an outline of the type of girder being used on the project and discussed the bridge materials (composite materials) being used. The approach slabs are finished and paving should begin shortly. Mr. Davis estimated that the Hopkins Street Bridge project should be completed by mid-August. He also noted that the County Line project should be finished this week. However, the Bend Road Bridge project has been experiencing delays due to the weather and water conditions.

His department is purchasing, through the State, an International, single axle truck for $45,553. A snowplow will be added for winter use. The Commissioners approved the purchase.

11:00 a.m. Jerry Hayes, Economic Development Director, met with the board to present the Keller Warehousing Enterprise Zone Agreement. After review and discussion, the Board requested some additional information be incorporated into the agreement. Once completed, Mr. Hayes will return to the Board for approval and signatures. The Enterprise Zone Agreement stipulates that Keller Warehousing will invest $2,600,000 to construct a new warehouse and $50,000 for new machinery and equipment. Three new full-time job opportunities will be created resulting in approximately $61,200 in annual payroll. The project will receive a 100% tax exemption for 10 years for real and personal property. The Northeastern Local School District

will receive approximately $6,376 and Four County Career Center $1,099 annually. Ground-breaking for this project is scheduled to begin some time in August.

1:30 p.m. Commissioners traveled to Road 73 in Paulding County to meet with the Paulding County Commissioners and Lynn Bergman at 2:00 p.m. regarding the Northwest Ethanol Project. The group met to discuss obtaining easements for water and sewer lines for the ethanol facility. Mr. Bergman gave information regarding this project to the Paulding County Commissioners for their review.

Today’s meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Commissioner