DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MONDAY, APRIL 19,
2004
NEWS RELEASE
The Board of Defiance County Commissioners
met in regular session at 8:30 a.m.
in the Conference Room of the Board of Commissioners, 500 Court Street, Suite
A, Defiance, Ohio 43512
on Monday, April 19, 2004. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman
Thomas L. Kime. Present were Commissioners
Thomas L. Kime and Otto L. Nicely. Also
present were Becky Wagner, Administrator, Alison
Grimes, Clerk, and Joan Brown, Deputy Clerk.
8:30 a.m. Russ Herman, Chief Assistant Prosecuting
Attorney, met with the Board for his update of various documents pending his
review. Currently Mr. Herman is
up-to-date on County paperwork.
9:00 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.
Commissioners discussed the fact that this week (April 18
through 24) is National County Government
Week. First held in 1990, the goal
of county government week is to raise public awareness and understanding about
the roles and responsibilities of the nation’s counties.
Some of the services provided by county government are paid
for by taxpayers money, such as recording real estate deeds, assisting in soil
and water conservation, issuing auto titles, veterans services, and organizing
elections, to name a few.
County government is flexible and adaptive in providing
services directly to the individual people who receive them, and are able to
provide county-wide and regional solutions to pressing challenges like disaster
services, solid waste issues and public safety.
For reference, following is a list of Defiance
County’s Elected Officials, their
department and office phone number. If you have questions or a problem and need
assistance, please call.
Commissioners Richard
Cromwell 419.782.4761
Thomas
Kime 419.782.4761
Otto
Nicely 419.782.4761
Engineer Gaylon
Davis 419.782.4751
Auditor Marlene
Goodwin 419.782.1926
Treasurer Karen
Tubbs 419.782.8741
Sheriff David
Westrick 419.784.1155
Recorder Jane
Tadsen 419.782.4741
Clerk of Courts Jean
Ziegler 419.782.1936
Coroner James
Preston, M.D. 419.782.9005
Juvenile/Probate Judge Stephen
Ruyle 419.782.4181
Common Pleas Judge Joseph
Schmenk 419.782.5931
Municipal Court Judge John
Rohrs III 419.782.5756
Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey
Strausbaugh 419.784.3700
Or call the toll-free number at 800.675.3953 and request a
department.
During General Session, Karen Tubbs, Treasurer stopped in
and she, along with the Commissioners, held an informational phone conference
with Tom Wilson of Peck, Shaffer and Williams regarding the R & L
Enterprises Industrial Park project.
10:00 a.m. In
the absence of Gaylon Davis, County Engineer,
Warren Schlatter, Chief Deputy County Engineer, met with the Board for a quick
update. He discussed the possibility of the
Engineer’s office advancing money to the Village
of Sherwood from the Permissive Tax
Fund to cover a shortfall for a paving project.
Warren will check with the
Prosecutor’s office to make sure this is acceptable, and then will get proper
paperwork from Sherwood and the Commissioners.
If approved, Sherwood would pay the shortfall back over a period of four
years.
10:30 a.m. Randy Vogel, County Dog Warden, met with
the Board for a departmental update. He
reviewed his statistics for the month of March, noting that his office
investigated 132 complaints, took 42 dogs to the Humane Shelter, and issued 30
warnings and 20 citations. He logged
2,749 miles on the Dog Warden van and transported 3,040 pounds (a record
amount) of euthanized animals to the Landfill.
Application deadline for the Dog License Inspector was last
Friday. Randy informed the Board that he
received 22 applications for the position.
He will begin reviewing the applications this week.
11:00 a.m. Jerry Overmier, Beilharz Architects, met
with the Board regarding the outside stairway which leads to the Child Support
office in the second floor of the Commissioner’s Annex. The steps are deteriorating from weather
conditions and Mr. Overmier submitted a proposal to glass-in the stairway. Morris Murray, Child Support Enforcement
Director, came in to the meeting at 11:07 a.m. The Board viewed the stairway to get a
clearer idea of the plan. Replacing the
treads and risers with aluminum and only partially enclosing the stairway was
discussed, along with a totally aluminum stairway replacement. Mr. Overmier will resubmit plans noting these
suggestions and approximate costs. Mr.
Murray will check with the State to see if any funds are available to assist
with the costs.
11:20 a.m. Members of the Domestic Violence Task
Force, Sheriff Dave Westrick, Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Strausbaugh, Job and
Family Services Director Dennis McKay, Captain Doug Engel, Legal Aid of Northwest Ohio Director Pam Weaner,
and Woman and Family Services Director Connie Allgire, stopped in to meet
briefly with the Board. Their task force
was picked for a site visit by the federal Criminal Justice office. An urban site has already been picked and Defiance
County was picked as a national
model agency for other rural task forces. The group is looking for a building
to set up offices in order to consolidate all the necessary services (Sarah’s
House, Job and Family Services, M.A.N. Unit, etc.), as a Family
Justice Center. The Task Force will be applying for a grant
in the amount of approximately $400,000 for the initial set-up phase. The group met with the Board to inform them
of this designation and to see if they might be interested in joining with them
to assist in finding a location. The
Board informed the group that they are interested in continuing the
discussions.
At approximately 1:00 p.m.,
Commissioners left to travel to Paulding
County for the Four County Solid
Waste District quarterly meeting, which begins at 1:30 p.m.
Today’s meeting adjourned at 2:45
p.m.
Approved for news release: _____________________________
Thomas
L. Kime, Commissioner