DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 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, October 6, 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. Joan Brown, Deputy Clerk was present for the Defiance session.

8:30 a.m. Russ Herman, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, met with the Board to review documents currently pending his review and/or opinion. Mr. Herman is up-to-date on county paperwork.

8:45 a.m. Jeff Strausbaugh, Prosecuting Attorney for Defiance County, met with the Commissioners at this time to discuss records retention. His office has no storage space left for the retention of records, as is the problem with most County departments. The County had looked into several companies who offered records management scanning, but they were not cost effective. After discussion, Mr. Strausbaugh said his office would research other available scanning/document retention companies and see if there were other options available.

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.

After reviewing quotes from area car dealers

Beckman Chevrolet Cadillac $18,324.43

Defiance, Ohio

Mark Moats Ford $16,150.00

Defiance, Ohio

Stykemain GMC $18,500.00

Defiance, Ohio

Integrity Chrysler $23,242.00

Defiance, Ohio

the Board approved the quote from Beckman Chevrolet for the purchase of a 2004 Express Access Van. Mark Moats Ford quote was lower but the vehicle did not meet the required specs. Noah Yoder Ford and Jim Schmidt Chevrolet were contacted but did not submit a quote. The van will be utilized by the Maintenance Department.

9:45 a.m. Karen Tubbs, County Treasurer, met with the Board to hold a brief Third Quarter Investment Advisory meeting. She reviewed information concerning closure and post-closure accounts for the Landfill and discussed the county’s investment portfolio. Currently, all investments are in order and the Board approved the investments as presented.

10:00 a.m. Gaylon Davis, County Engineer, presented his weekly update at this time. He first submitted the latest ODOT Road Construction/Repair list for the Board’s review.

Gaylon also reviewed the meeting held last Thursday concerning the Sherwood Ditch Project.

There is a state-wide litter study that will be performed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in Defiance County. The study will sample litter composition, including weight and volumes and will be conducted on a portion of Flory Road. From now through May, 2004, the County will comply with ODNR’s wishes that no litter be picked up from this area nor will the area be mowed.

He also gave the Board a copy of the 2002 Bridge Construction report for their review.

The Banner School Road project is almost complete and Gaylon noted that, if work goes well, the Hopkins Street Bridge may be open by the end of the week. The work on the Bend Road Bridge project is continuing.

10:30 a.m. The Board of Commissioners, Becky Wagner, Alison Grimes and Joan Brown attended a county Insurance Committee meeting in the Second Floor Conference Room. Other County employees attending were: Jim Harris, Mary Davis, Ron Cereghin, Doug Engel, Warren Schlatter, Tammy Renollet, Robin Justus, Mildred Moore and Eric Zipfel. Dave Brooks and Maggie Neely, CORSA; Ken Keller and John Brownlee, Jr., First Insurance and Investments; Toni Donahue, AON, Todd Cullen, Anthem and Tom Strup, Williams County Commissioner representing the CEBCO (County Employee Benefits Company) Steering Committee, were also in attendance. The meeting was held to present preliminary insurance information for the County Insurance Committee and the Board of Commissioners to review. Information concerning five different employee insurance benefit packages was discussed. Afterwards, the insurance consultants fielded several questions from the Committee. Insurance Committee members will meet at a later time to review and discuss the information received today.

1:30 p.m. The County Commissioners and Becky Wagner, Administrator, traveled to Williams County for a meeting concerning Lick Creek. Jim Harris, Soil and Water Conservation District, also attended this meeting.

Today’s meeting adjourned at 2:05 p.m.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Commissioner