NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 1, 2012 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., Laura Howell, Administrator, and Stephanie Metz, Clerk.

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

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.

Warren Schlatter, Defiance County Engineer, met with the Commissioners for an update. Warren informed the Commissioners that the railroad crossing work on Krouse Road has been completed. The approaches to the railroad will be tapered to make the crossing safer. The contractor is paving at The Bend Road Bridge on Monday, with berm work and roadside seeding still needing completed. Pavement Marking contractor should begin this week.

The State of Ohio Department of Transportation is conducting a planning effort called Access Ohio 2040. This future planning effort is reaching out to the citizenry of Ohio for input on usage, preferences, etc. which is why it is called the ODOT 2012 Statewide Customer Preference Survey. The updated plan will: inventory existing conditions of infrastructure for all modes of transportation, inventory ridership for all transit agencies, inventory existing crash data, inventory all major environmental assets, seek input from transportation stakeholders and the public, identify macro-corridors, project the future conditions of all ODOT-owned roads (pavement conditions, bridge conditions, demand and congestion), document potential impacts of climate variability on existing infrastructure, and demonstrate consistency with plans from metropolitan planning organizations. The Commissioners are urging the citizens of Defiance County to complete this survey by going to http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/SPR/StatewidePlanning/access.ohio/Pages/default.aspx.

Isaac Lee, Defiance Chamber of Commerce, met with the Commissioners for an update. Isaac stated that to date this year the total number of referrals from the Chamber’s website business directory was 7,856,210 with each member averaging 17,536 referrals. The number of business locations were mapped from the website was 3,535,443.

Corey Walker, Defiance County Job & Family Services Director, met with the Commissioners for an update. Corey informed the Board that through August, 2012 there have been 962 people use the One Stop office. There has been $636,762 in food assistance dollars for 5,366 individuals.

The Commissioners met in executive session for personnel, hiring per Ohio Revised Code 121.222 (G) (1) with no decisions being made in executive session.

Release Approved: ____________________________________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Defiance County Commissioner