NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 20, 2008 in the Conference Room in the Commissioners Office at 500 Court Street, Suite A, Defiance, Ohio 43512. Chairman Thomas L. Kime called the meeting to order. Also present were Commissioners James E. Harris, Jr. and Otto L. Nicely, Laura Howell, Administrator, Stephanie Metz, Clerk, and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk.

The Commissioners met in General Session and approved and signed various resolutions, contracts and documents. The Commissioners also reviewed the calendar of events and discussed upcoming meetings.

Russ Herman, Defiance County Assistant Prosecutor met with the Commissioners for an update on various pending legal matters.

Warren Schlatter, Defiance County Engineer, met with the Commissioners for his weekly update. Gerken Paving began working on the Hicksville-Spencerville Road Urban Project today. This road will be closed to through traffic intermittently for the next couple weeks for this project. The Highway Department has been working along the roadways in this location also. Standley Road east of State Route 18 is currently closed for the replacement of a culvert; it should be opened by the end of the week, weather permitting. If the weather permits, the Highway Department’s next project will be culvert replacements on Independence Road north of State Route 424.

Greg Reinhart, Director of Defiance County Wastewater, met with the Commissioners for an update. Greg noted that the Evansport pressure line has been fixed. Greg also presented Wastewater’s income and expense report for the month of September, 2008 to the Commissioners.

Bill Ozuk and Shelly Patchin from eMerge Information System met with the Commissioners along with representatives from the Records Center, Auditor’s Office, Juvenile & Probate Court and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Mr. Ozuk provided a presentation on the capabilities of eMerge’s document imaging system and how it would benefit the departments.

The Commissioners along with the Fulton, Henry and Williams County Commissioners met at the ADAMhs Board with Jaime Pullig, Justice Benefits, Inc. Ms. Pullig provided information regarding her company and the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). This program is a Federal Reimbursement Program that reimburses the County/Correctional Facility for housing foreign born inmates. She also provided information another Federal Reimbursement Program called the Northern Boarder Prosecution Initiative (NBPI). This program provides assistance with the costs associated with prosecuting and detaining federal related cases which have been declined by local U.S. Attorney’s offices and referred to local prosecutors.

Jerry Hayes and Isaac Lee, Defiance County Economic Development, and Dan Roeser and Rhonda Miller from SME met with the Commissioners to discuss EPA Grants for Phase I Studies for possible brownfield sites.

Release Approved: ____________________________________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Defiance County Commissioner