DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15,
2003
NEWS RELEASE
The Board of Defiance County Commissioners
met in regular session at 8:30 a.m.
in the
Conference Room of the Defiance
County Board of Commissioner, 500
Court Street, Suite A, Defiance, Ohio 43512
on Monday, December 15, 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 were Becky
Wagner, County Administrator,
Alison Grimes, Clerk and Joan Brown, Deputy Clerk.
8:30 a.m. General
Session – Commissioners approved and signed various resolutions, contracts and
documents, approved various travel requests, reviewed the agenda items and the
calendar of events, discussed upcoming meetings and updated information for the
calendar of events.
The Board was pleased to find out that Bruce Johnson of the
Ohio Department of Development approved the County’s petition for designation
as a “Situational Distress” County. The
designation will be in effect January
1, 2004 through December
31, 2004. Effective January
1, manufacturing or refining companies located within the political boundaries
of Defiance County,
which make machinery and equipment purchases in compliance with the guidelines as
outlined in Ohio Revised Code Sections 5733.33 and 5747.31, are allowed to
claim a credit against their Ohio Corporate Franchise Tax equal to 13.5
percent.
10:00 a.m. Gaylon Davis,
County Engineer,
met with the Board with his weekly update.
He submitted two change orders, one from Gerken Paving for the 2003
Issue II and LTIP Paving Project (county and village paving) for an increase of
$4,417.23. The other change order is
also from Gerken Paving for the 2003 Issue II and LTIP Paving Project (Buckskin
Road Re-Alignment Project) which notes a decrease of $4,006.48. The Board approved both change orders.
Mr. Davis also submitted information requesting the decrease
in the load limit of two bridges. The
bridge on Glenburg Road
(Bridge #2040085), north of Bostater, will be reduced to 3 ton. The bridge on Bostater
Road (Bridge #2040999), depending on the type of
vehicle, will be reduced to 7, 10, 12 and 20 ton. The Board approved these changes and a
resolution will be prepared noting these changes.
10:30 a.m. Bruce Clevenger and Barb Rohrs, OSU
Extension Office, met with the Board to present their quarterly update. Barb reviewed various programs held during
the last three months. Right Brain vs. Left Brain Thinking addressed
the way people process information.
Understanding these differences help people relate in a positive manner
when differences occur and helps identify methods of working to accomplish
tasks and goals.
55 people attended several weight management programs. Barb also noted that food safety and food
preservation continue to be a concern for many Defiance
County residents. Calls to the office asking for advice were
tracked this year and over 125 food safety questions and over 200 food
preservation questions were answered.
The 2003 Family Nutrition Program grant totaled over $35,000
and reached 550 participants. The
program targets food stamp recipients with nutrition education, food safety,
and food budgeting. This grant is
sponsored by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
Classes that helped participants to understand where their
money goes and how to set up a workable budget were presented to 10 new Home
Development participants, 8 court-ordered families and 58 interested general
public audiences. In addition, 12 first-time
home buyers attended 8 hours of budget training enabling them to purchase their
first home and 6 families participated in Habitat for Humanity money management
classes earning 40 hours of sweat equity.
Bruce informed the group that the Western Corn Rootworm is
still a threat to local corn production.
Research from Purdue indicates that using Pherocon® AM trap catches in soybeans of five or more WCR beetles per trap per day
during any trapping week suggests a potential problem with rootworm in the
field the following year. Weekly
scouting at four Defiance County monitoring locations revealed a range of 0.07
– 1.83 beetles per trap per day during summer trapping weeks in the period from
July 23 to September 5. This information
can save farmers $12 to $14 per acre on soil insecticide treatments to protect
against this beetle.
The 2003 class of
the Defiance County Master Gardeners have completed their 50 hours of
horticultural training. Master Gardeners
volunteer 50 hours of community service. Some of their projects during 2003 were:
teaching at the 4-H/United Way Day Camp and the Summer Outings Activities
and Recreation (SOAR) Program and renovating 5 City of Defiance flowerbeds.
They have assisted with over 200 phone calls or personal contacts made
to the Horticultural Hotline during 2003.
The Master Gardeners have provided over 1,200 volunteer hours to area
community projects and, during 2003, the 33 Defiance County Master Gardeners
averaged over 23 hours each for a value exceeding $7,600.00. The Board asked Bruce if someone from the
Master Gardeners program would look at the old hospital campus to see if trees
needed to be trimmed, shrubs needed to be pruned and flower beds could be
spruced up.
He also noted that the 2003 Defiance County Natural Hazard
Mitigation Plan was completed.
Historically, the Blizzard of ’78 cost Ohioans $3.5 million. Tornadoes have been reported in Defiance
County once in every 6.1
years. Damaging thunderstorm winds (70
to 90 miles per hour) occurred 1.3 times per year. The Maumee River and
its tributaries exceed flood stage once in every 2.3 years. There are 380 building structures in Defiance
County’s 100-year flood plain. The Defiance
County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan provides a list of 64 prioritized
projects that, when implemented, will help prevent loss of human life and
property damage in Defiance County. The plan will be formally adopted by the
Board in early 2004.
11:00 a.m. Jerry Hayes and Matt Gilroy, Defiance
County Economic Development, met with the Board to review the Tax Incentive
Review Committee’s recommendations.
Marlene Goodwin, Auditor, was also present for the meeting. The group reviewed and then the Board of
Commissioners approved the active Enterprise Zone Agreements for 2003.
The TIRC recommended continuance of the following Enterprise
Zone Agreements:
Hicksville
Local School
District
·
A & P Tool, Inc. #1
·
Cooper Power Tools #1
·
Cooper Power Tools #2
·
Nemco, Inc. #2
·
Steele’s 5 Acre Mill
·
Trident Corporation
The TIRC recommended amendment and continuance of the
following Enterprise Zone Agreements:
- A
& P Tool, Inc #2 – amended to decrease job creation levels
- Parker-Hannifin
Corporation – amended to decrease job creation levels
Ayersville
Local School
District
The TIRC recommended continuance of the following Enterprise
Zone Agreements:
- Advantage
Powder Coating #2
- Advantage
Powder Coating #3
- BOC
Group
- GM
Powertrain #2
- GM
Powertrain #3
- GM
Powertrain #4
- Johns-Manville,
Phase I & II
- Metal
Management Ohio, Inc.
- One
Source Diversified Services
The TIRC recommended amendment and continuance of the
following Enterprise Zone Agreements:
- Alfe
Heat Treating – amended to extend the project period
- CBS
Boring & Machine – amended to extend the project period
- Defiance
Energy Company – amended to change owner of the assets
The TIRC recommended the following Enterprise Zone
Agreements be rescinded:
- Johns-Manville,
Plant #3
- Johns-
Manville, Phase I & II, June 1999
Northeastern Local
School District
The TIRC recommended continuance of the following Enterprise
Zone Agreements:
- Defiance
Metal Products #4
- Defiance
Metal Products #5
- Defiance
Metal Products #6
- Defiance
Metal Products #7
- First
Energy Company
- Johns-Manville,
Plant 8, June 1994
- Johns-Manville,
Plant 8, May 1999
- Keller
Warehousing #1
- Keller
Warehousing #2
- Keller
Warehousing #3
- Koester
Corporation
- Werlor,
Inc. #2
The TIRC recommended amendment and continuance of the
following Enterprise Zone Agreement:
- Werlor,
Inc. #3 – amended to decrease real property investment and increase
personal property investment
Defiance
City School
District
The TIRC recommended continuance of the following Enterprise
Zone Agreements:
- Agri-Lube,
Inc.
- Apex
Tooling
- Defiance
Precision Products #3
- Defiance
Precision Products #4
- Defiance
Stamping
- Hubbard
Company #4
- Hubbard
Company #5
- Johns-Manville,
Plant 2, Phase I & II
- Koester
Metal Products #3
- Olson
Cold Storage #2
- Olson
Cold Storage #3
The TIRC recommended amendment and continuance of the
following Enterprise Zone Agreement:
·
Defiance Machinery Company – amended to decrease
job creation levels
The TIRC recommended that the following Enterprise Zone
Agreement be rescinded:
·
Paradigm Acquisitions
2:00 p.m. The Commissioners, Becky
Wagner and Sherry Carnahan
met with representatives from Rural Development, Ken Maag of Poggemeyer Design
Group, the Ohio EPA and the Paulding County Commissioners at the Public Safety
Services facility regarding the Auglaize River Sewer Project. Discussion centered on financing, available
and otherwise. The group also okayed the
option to renew the easement purchases, which are up December 31, 2003. Poggemeyer will send a letter to OEPA asking
for an extension regarding the Finding and Orders. Meanwhile, the counties will continue to
search for funding.
After this meeting, the Board approved the purchase of a
used HOT SHOT vehicle from Exceptional Motors for the Senior
Services Center. The vehicle, with only 6,900 miles, will cost
$18,000.
Today’s meeting adjourned at 3:50
p.m.
Approved for news release: _____________________________
Thomas
L. Kime, Commissioner