NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 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 October 17, 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, and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk.

8:30 A.M. Russ Herman came before the Board for his departmental update. Russ informed the Board that the Defiance/Paulding Agreement for Auglaize – Revision for USDA and the Ethanol Project are still on hold and noted that the Wal-Mart Purchase Agreement for the Environmental Covenant’s for mitigation of wetlands was sent to Dick Sargent for his review.

8:45 A.M. General Session Clerk, Lyla Gurwell presented various resolutions, contracts and documents for approval of the Commissioners. Commissioners also approved several travel requests, reviewed the agenda items and the calendar of events, discussed upcoming meetings and updated information for the calendar of events.

Visiting the Commissioners throughout the morning sessions were Defiance High school Seniors along with teacher Nicole Silvers. The students were here to observe how County Government conducts it’s meetings and were very appreciative of the Commissioners to enable them this opportunity. It was a pleasure having them here.

This mornings schedule was somewhat altered:

9:00 A.M. The Defiance County Engineer, Warren Schlatter was due in at 10:00 a.m. but came in at 9:00 a.m. as his schedule required him to be out at the Bowman Road Bridge site.

Warren reported that the crew was setting beams on the bridge on Bowman Road which was awarded to R.G. Zachrich in August with a bid of $165,699. The portion awarded to Zachrich was the Roadway and Pavement work, drainage and guardrail portion of the job. The Defiance County Highway Crew is involved in the excavation portion and installing abutments and pilings with reinforced steel. When complete, the total project cost will be approximately $400,000 and will replace a steel truss bridge. This project is being funded with Federal monies.

Warren indicated that he had a meeting in Washington DC with the Federal Highway Department several months ago to discuss the use of a special fabric that could be used as a stabilizer along with concrete block and compacted stone for strength. Warren stated that this bridge is one of two bridges in the United States built using this technology. It will be a cost savings of approximately $100,000 for Defiance County. The Federal Highway Department awarded $50,000 for this project and will utilize an additional $30,000 for instruments to monitor and document the performance of the bridge.

Warren also explained that his office is responsible for maintaining approximately 240 bridges in Defiance County and that his crew inspects and maintains each one on a yearly basis. Warren also mentioned that bridges are built to have a life span of approximately 50 years and his office has been replacing about 10 each year.

Warren also explained the Access Management Program with the students and the process of developing and maintaining such a program. He explained that Access Management is has to do with the traffic count on primary arterial roadways within the county and access to driveways and how far apart they are spaced. Warren explained that an Access Management program utilizes many members of the professional businesses and groups such as the County Engineer, a land surveyor, 3 township trustees, a licensed engineer other than the County Engineer, a realtor and someone appointed by the Commissioners.

10:30 A.M. Bruce Clevenger and Barb Rohrs from the OSU Extension Office were in for there quarterly update with the Commissioners.

Barb reported that there were five families that were in the process of becoming first time homebuyers by completing the Homebuyers Class which is obtaining a loan and financing a home.

Barb reported on the health programs and the third annual community health fair with over 75 people attending. She also discussed the HOPE program which offers support and educational resources to parents and youth committed to improving family relationships. This is a 7 week program and the cost is $20.00.

The Junior Fair has 1950 entries from 644 exhibitors representing both 4-H and FFA. There were non-livestock entries and 34 of those entries received honors at the Ohio State Fair.

Over 1,000 youth participated in a variety of summer youth programs coordinated by OSU Extension. The programs include 4-H Camp, Untied Way Day Camp, SOAR, 4-H Clinics among a few. $32,000 in grant monies was received to supplement these programs.

Bruce reported that in July, August and September, nearly 200 phone call or personal visits were made to the county agriculture/natural resources educator requesting information on crop production, pond management, insect-pest problems or farm management.

Bruce discussed problems with the Asian Soybean Rust Sentinel plot and the Soybean Aphid. He mentioned that he inspected about 100 plants weekly or biweekly with the suspicious going to the OSU diagnostic clinic.

Bruce also mentioned new information was found on the migration of the Emerald Ash Bore which originated in S.E. Asia through shipping containers. There were 10 new infected sights of the Emerald Ash Bore in the Hicksville area. Bruce mentioned it is against the law to transfer firewood from one infected location to another and that there is a $500 fine if caught. Firewood management is all it would take to stop the migration of this disease.

11:30 A.M. Kevin Hancock, Soil & Water technician opened bids for the Paulding/ Defiance County Carry-all ditch tile project that was recently advertised. There were three bids opened as follows:

Andy Shininger/ Andy Zimmerman of Bryan, OH - $168,615.32, VTF Excavating of Salina, OH - $169,782.25 and S & S Directional of Ney, OH - $196,873.10

The bids were taken under advisement and will be reviewed at the next Joint Board meeting scheduled on October 24, 2005 at 10:30 a.m.

11:45 A.M. The meeting adjourned to enable the Commissioners to attend the Solid Waste District Meeting in Fulton County at 1:30 p.m.

Approved for news release: _____________________________

Otto L. Nicely, Commissioner