NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 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 Thursday, July 28, 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; Lyla Gurwell, Clerk, and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk.

 

8:30 a.m.      Defiance County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Russ Herman reported the Prosecutors Office has been very busy with jury trials over the summer months.  Mr. Herman also reported an upcoming meeting with Zellers in an effort to recover money for the cost of a spill that occurred last winter.  The city of Defiance has incurred most of the expense for the cleanup.  Administrator Becky Wagner along with Mr. Herman will update the board during his next scheduled meeting as to the outcome of the meeting with Zellers.      

 

10:00 a.m.    Defiance County Engineer Warren Schlatter reported Christy Road south of Coressel Road is now open to all traffic.  Replaced the old structure with a 48’ X 16’ X 6’ radius reinforced concrete box structure.

 

Christy Road north of Banner School will open in approximately one week, weather permitting.

 

Warren stated the Wonderly & Scholl Road structure replacements are moving forward with the placement last week of two concrete box structures.  The Bend Road widening between SR 15 & the County Line Road is moving forward and will be complete by the end of October or November, weather permitting.

 

Additional bridge projects on the Engineer’s schedule are Vine Street and Bowman Road.  Warren will update the Commissioners as these projects get underway.

 

Mr. Schlatter also reported Total Revenue is up $10,000 from last year.

 

10:30 a.m.    Volunteer Connection’s Bobby Olashuk and Julie Fowler from Defiance County Public Safety Office discussed Grant Funding for FY 2005 Citizen Corp Program Grant.  Mr. Olashuk reported he had requested $18,618 and the total FY05 CCP awarded Defiance County was $15,770.  Defiance County was fourth on the list of 88 counties in the state of Ohio who received the funding.  Four Counties of Northwest Ohio received 21% of the money awarded by the State.  By Category, the money will be distributed in the following categories:  CERT-$4,800 for 100 new trainees, CERT Continuing Education/ Retention- $1,200, Fire Corp- $2,310, Volunteers in Police Service- $2,500, and $4,960 for Citizen Corp planning/ Outreach.  Julie also reported a notice of award for a Medical Corp grant of $5,000 from the state.   Commissioner Nicely requested that Julie Fowler put a list together of collaborative efforts among Defiance County entities involved in getting the grant money. 

 

11:00 a.m.    Help Me Grow Heather Huffman came in and updated the Commissioners on the Parent Mentor Program she is working on.  This is a program that focuses on working with families with children from birth to age 10.  It involves help with parenting skills which could help those having difficulty facing the possibility of having their children taken away.  The idea of a mentor coming into the home would be in and effort to resolve issues prior to the family being separated.  The program also teaches housekeeping skills.  Karen Woolum with NOCAC will be taking over this new position as Help Me Grow felt this was a good fit with the program they currently have in place.

 

1:30 p.m.      Ray Saneholtz and Roger Baker from Feller, Finch & Associates located in Maumee, Ohio came in to introduce themselves.  Their capabilities include Civil Engineer’s, Land Surveyors, Environmental Water & Waste Water Engineers just to name a few.  Among a few of the projects Feller, Finch has worked on would include Issue II and CDBG projects and they indicated that they are very familiar with the application process for grant monies and have been awarded many Grant & Loan awards throughout Ohio. 

 

2:00 p.m.      Denis Miller from Maumee Valley Planning discussed the R & L Enterprise Industrial Park Construction Project Agreements.  Dennis requested authorization from the Commissioners to award the engineering of the project to Bryan Engineering Bryan, OH.  The decision was based on an evaluation process as required by the Ohio Revised Code §153.65-71.  Following the evaluation, the Defiance County Commissioners will enter into contract negotiations with this firm, which in this case is Bryan Engineering, Bryan, OH.  The State of Ohio Rural Industrial Park Program, State of Ohio Roadwork Development Fund, State of Ohio Urban Rural Initiatives Account, local funds and private developer funds are the source of the funding for the this project.  Anticipated date of completion of this project is January 2005.  The total project budget is $2,713,000.

 

Additionally, Chief Dog Randy Vogel sent his offices July report to the board for review.  Randy reported 136 complaints of which his department investigated; transported 31 dogs to the shelter, issued 20 warnings, 18 citations, and sold 5 dog licenses.  Mr. Vogel also reported the transport of 960 pounds of euthanized animals and total miles reported for the month of July were 2,786 miles.

 

The Commissioners signed the contracts for the Hicksville CDBG Bryan Street Waterline Project.  The total award of the contract was $41,498.50 and was awarded to All Purpose Contracting, Incorporated located in Delphos, OH.

 

 

 

 

 

Approved for news release:          _____________________________

Otto L. Nicely, Commissioner