NEWS RELEASE

DEFIANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012

The Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 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, Stephanie Metz Clerk, and Arica Smith, 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.

The Commissioners approved the contract with Helms & Sons Excavating, Inc. for the 2012 Defiance Ayersville Pleasant Bend Road project.

Marlene Goodwin, Defiance County Auditor, met with the Commissioners to discuss the Weights and Measures. The Commissioners approved Marlene’s request for an additional $3,045.21 in the Weights and Measures account for additional employee training.

Laura Howell, Administrator, met with the Board to provide her weekly update with various department and project updates.

Public Safety: Individual Counties no longer qualify for Citizen Corp or Homeland Security Grant funding. All grants are going to regional capabilities and are competitive grants. Several months ago the Board of Commissioners approved Defiance County EMA joining with other counties in the NW region to form the Black Swamp Citizen Corp Council. As a regional council, Henry County EMA wrote a competitive grant for Citizen Corp Equipment. Word was received that the application has been accepted and granted in the full amount of the request. The request was over $100,000 worth of equipment for Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding and Williams Counties. Defiance County EMA will receive a brand new trailer fully stocked with equipment needed to respond to a natural disaster. Some of the equipment will be chain saws, empty gas cans, leather work gloves, goggles, dust masks, work vests, shovels, brooms, etc. We were also awarded an EOC-To-Go, which contains 5 business-class laptops, wireless router, headsets, and peripheral devices (mices, and power adapters. This is an Ultra Mobile Communications and Command center. From any internet connection, a call center and operations control can be set up within minutes.

Defiance County has participated in the National Association of Counties’ Prescription Drug Discount Card Program for over four years. Since Defiance County began the program and through September 30, 2012, 8,756 Defiance County residents have filled 10,957 prescriptions through the program. The retail submitted price over the past four years total $714,584.66 with price savings of $159,749.45 for Defiance County residents. The percentage price savings per prescription is 22.36%. The average price savings per prescription is $9.23. Defiance County is one of 1,400 county governments across the country that participates in the National Counties Prescription Discount Card Program. The nationwide program has saved residents $497 million on 39 million prescriptions since the program’s inception.

Randy Vogel, Defiance County Dog Warden, met with the Commissioners for an update. Randy informed them that during September there were 117 calls investigated that resulted in 33 dogs taken to the shelter, 18 warnings issued and 19 citations issued. There was 3,895 miles driven and $433.00 received in Municipal Court fines. Dog tag sales are up compared to 2011 by $3,360.00.

Tina Hiler, Defiance County Senior Services Director, met with the Commissioner for an update. Tina stated that Medicare Part D assistance with research and education on a prescription drug program for senior adults is available at Defiance County Senior Services starting October 15^th through December 15^th, 2012. Call Tina at 419-782-3233 for an appointment. You will need to bring your Medicare card, list of prescriptions - name, dosage and frequency. Wednesday, October 24^th is the Halloween Bash with dinner at 5:00 p.m. and music at 6:00 p.m. The Thanksgiving Banquet is Thursday, November 15^th at 11:30 a.m.; Twin Rivers Care and Rehab Center is sponsoring the dinner. At the Ribfest the Auxiliary made $2,550.00. Thrivent for Lutherans is donating another $750.00 to be used for the nutrition program. The Senior Services and Auxiliary would like to thank Coca Cola for the donation of all of the pop and water sold at the Ribfest and Thrivent for Lutherans for their donation.

Jack Keegan, PIO for Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) met with the Commissioners to introduce himself and explain the new PUCO initiatives. Mr. Keegan provided information on governmental energy aggregation and an agency overview.

The Commissioners’ Office recently received the Monthly Activity Report for September 2012 from Amy Galbraith, Defiance County Clerk of Courts. Amy reported fees collected of $9,825.78 in legal, $18,291.94 in title, and depositing $60,577.10 in legal and $360,517.86 in title. There were 1,591 titles issued, 435 notation of liens, and 466 inspections.

Commissioner Kime attended the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) Board of Trusteed meeting.

The Commissioners attended the Defiance County Township Association Quarterly Meeting at the Hicksville Eagles.

Release Approved: ____________________________________________________

Thomas L. Kime, Defiance County Commissioner