NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 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 October 20, 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.     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.

 

 9:30 a.m.     Defiance County Administrator Becky Wagner reported on attending a Black Swamp Council Meeting in Archbold, Ohio on Tuesday.  Becky reported there was good attendance and that Defiance County received a 2% check back for Workers Comp.

 

10:00 a.m.    Professor Burke with Defiance College accompanied four senior College Students spoke with the Commissioners on Emergency Planning/ Preparedness.  Involved in the discussion was Mark Hopper Director of Public Safety Services. Mark touched on many areas that involve Public Safety Services.  Several good questions were asked of Mark Hopper regarding Defiance County emergency Plans for man-made or natural disasters or plans for hazardous spills. 

 

Mark explained there is a very intensive training process that one needs to go through along with after action reviews to enable the crews on scene to discuss what could have been done that may not have been done during the emergency.

 

Mark also explained that the Natural Disaster Plan has recently been updated and continues to be updated.  Mr. Hopper also advised the group that he put together a smaller reference guide that is updated annually that walks you through who you need to call according to the problem or emergency and it has been a very good tool out in the field.

 

We also have in place a reverse 911 plan which enables the emergency center to call all listed telephone numbers in the effected area as to what measures they need take to stay safe according to the emergency. They have utilized this twice in the past to warn of impending danger to life and/ or property.

 

The Commissioners wanted to inform the students that a lot of the time FEMA is criticized for not responding to disasters in a timely manner.  They reminded the students that FEMA is not the first in charge when a natural disaster happens; the state government needs to declare a state of emergency and request that FEMA get involved.  Once FEMA is requested, they are the entity in charge of coordinating the rescues and managing the disaster.

 

 

 

 

 

The Commissioners along with Mark Hopper have found a location in Hicksville to be designated as an emergency shelter.

 

10:00 a.m.  Defiance County Treasurer Karen Tubbs opened bids for Bank Depository.  Karen opened 8 bids for banks that will be named as depositories for Defiance County.  Among those submitting bids for consideration were Sky Bank, Key Bank, Hicksville Building and Loan & Savings, 1st Federal Bank – Defiance, Fifth Third Bank – Defiance, Hicksville Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank ad State Bank & Trust Company.  Karen will analyze all bids with the Commissioners taking all received under consideration.

 

11:30 a.m.    Defiance County Health Department’s Kathy Snow came in to do a presentation to implement a walking path around Defiance County East to promote a worksite wellness program that would offer incentives to the Defiance County employees to become more physically active.  The commissioners agreed to allow Kathy to develop a plan and present it to them at a later date.

 

1:30 p.m.      Airport Authority Members, John Ferland, Jim Gillis, Lynn Bergman, Tony Saxton, Jim Harris, Jerry Hayes of Economic Development met with the Commissioners along with Promedica Representatives, Dr. John Horns, Cara Priest, Vickie Cobb-Bose, Dr. Lindstrom, Wayne Butzow, and Larry Yoder with Wells Bowen. 

 

The Commissioners along with the Airport Authority members and Promedica went through the list of questions and were able to come to an agreement.  Promedica will send a letter of intent within one week to finalize details.

 

2:30 p.m       The Commissioners and staff went over final details for the open house at the new Defiance County East Office Complex on East Second Street.  The Ribbon Cutting will begin at 1:00 p.m. and the tours of the offices will begin promptly thereafter.  The Commissioners would like to thank the staff for a job well done on all of the preparations and encourage the public to come and be a part of the celebration.

 

 

 

 

Approved for news release:          _____________________________

Otto L. Nicely, Commissioner