NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2008

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, February 4, 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 Otto L. Nicely and James E. Harris, Jr., Cara Brown, Clerk, and Joanne Goerlitz, Deputy Clerk. Laura Howell, Administrator was absent.

Jane Tadsen, Defiance County Recorder, submitted her January 2008 report. Jane reported recording

175 Deeds, 169 Mortgages, 212 Releases, and 4 Power of Attorney’s. the total of the month of January 2008, was $26,240.00 of which $12,948.00 went towards the Housing Trust Fund and $13,292.00 went towards the General Fund.

Cindy Mack, Visitor Bureau Manager, and Rita Kissner, Development Manager, both of the Defiance Development and Visitor’s Bureau, met with the Commissioners to discuss the downtown boat docks and Auglaize Village. Rita advised that they met with Julie McQuaid, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, to discuss the application process for grant monies for the downtown boat docks. Rita advised that whoever owns the majority of the property in which the docks will be built will need to file the application. In addition to boat docks, it was also mentioned that this site could also be used as a canoe/kayack pull-out site. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2008 with an award decision to be made in July, construction would begin in 2009.

Cindy provided an update on her work out at Auglaize Village. Cindy is working on preliminary steps in order to prepare the Village for submission for grant monies. Cindy advised that the Village has numerous items and that their inventory list needs to be brought up-to-date and that this will be a major task.

Warren Schlatter, Defiance County Engineer, opened bids for the 2008 County Aerial Photography and the Stever Road Bridge Replacement. The bid(s) received for the 2008 County Aerial Photography were taken under advisement. There were no bids received for the Stever Road Bridge Replacement.

Randy Buckman, City Historian, met with the Commissioners to discuss records preservation and a location to keep these records. Randy advised that he believes Spenser School has potential to accommodate several sets of records from different groups – Genealogical Society, Historic Homes Society, and possibly some County records, depending on the County’s decision on facility needs. The Commissioners requested Randy to obtain additional information as they are willing to explore all options for facility and/or space needs.

Tim Houck, Environmental Services Director, opened bids for the construction of the Phase II BAT Cell. Four bids were received. The Commissioners took the bids under advisement and a recommendation will be made by Tim Houck and Mannik & Smith to the Board of Commissioners on Thursday, February 14, 2008 in the Commissioners meeting room.

Jack Graf, Job & Family Services Director, met with the Commissioners to provide an update. Jack presented an overview of the programs that Job and Family Services offer and a summary of 2007 services. Jack stated that for FY 2007, the food stamp accuracy rate was 97.5%. Also, in calendar year 2007, $32,795 was collected by the Fraud Investigator from clients who received benefits to which they were not entitled, compared with $22,014 that was collected in calendar year 2006. There were also 395 cases of abuse and/or neglect reported in 2007.

Russ Herman, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, met with the Commissioners to discuss the Auglaize Sewer Project. The Commissioners will be meeting with Paulding County Commissioners to discuss the progress on this project.

Release Approved: ____________________________________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Defiance County Commissioner