NEWS RELEASE
DEFIANCE
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013
The
Board of Defiance County Commissioners met in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on
Monday, April 8, 2013 in the Conference Room in the Commissioners’ Office at
500 Court Street, Suite A, Defiance, Ohio 43512. Chairman Otto L. Nicely
called the meeting to order. Also present were
Commissioners James E. Harris, Jr. and Thomas L. Kime, Laura
Howell, Administrator, Stephanie Metz,
Clerk, and Angelica Abels, 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
a contract with Birchwood Construction & Excavating, LLC for the Defiance
County Airport Restroom Renovations in the amount of $47,160.00.
Bruce
Clevenger, Teresa Johnson, and Vickie Griffith, Defiance County OSU Extension,
met with the Commissioners for a quarterly update. The following updates were provided:
Agriculture Natural Resources: 53 area farmers recertified their private pesticide
applicators license by attending a Defiance County training session. Over 170
farmers are licensed in Defiance County and must obtain 3 hours of
recertification every three years. Computerized farm recordkeeping workshop with Quicken® was attended by 29 farmers. OSU Extension hosted a
2013 Farm Outlook meeting at the Jewell Community Center attracting 110 area
farmers and agricultural business representatives. Three speakers from Ohio
State University spoke on specialized topics: Outlook on Tax Laws and
Strategies for Farm Businesses, Farm Production Economics – Inputs and Land,
and Grain Market Outlook: Old Crop and Futures. A new factsheet has been
authored to describe Defiance County’s Forest Economy. The direct economic impacts of the local forest economy include:
employment of 51, labor income of $2.0 M, Value-Added $2.4 M, and total output
produced of $7.4M. Defiance County’s forests contain 251 million board feet of
sawtimber, with the top five species making up 92.8% total standing volume. Top
five species include white oaks (60.2%), red oaks (15.1%), hickory (7.1%), soft
maple (5.5%) and basswood (4.9%). For more information, please consult the
following source http://www.ohiowood.osu.edu/. During January, February and March, over 100 phone
calls, e-mail and/or personal visits were made to the county
agriculture/natural resources educator and staff. Over 185 people attended the
Agriculture Appreciation and Farmers share Breakfast that was hosted by OSU
Extension, the Defiance Soil and Water Conservation District and the Defiance
Area Chamber of Commerce. Other miscellaneous services coordinated by the Ag
Educator: hosted Pesticide License Testing for new private and commercial
applicators; providing for-sale publications and no-cost factsheets to local
residence; taught Certified Crop Advisor Exam Prep Course for 28 Ohio and
Indiana agronomists; taught and moderated at the Conservation Tillage
Conference in Ada, Ohio, with over 900 attendees; displayed at the Defiance
County Soil & Water Conservation Districts Farm Fair; taught agricultural
controlled drainage to area farmers/landowners to manage crop yields and improve
water quality.
SNAP Ed: The
SNAP Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education) presented 90
educational sessions with 441 participants attending. Topics included: Meals on a Budget, Sink Those Germs, Read It
Before You Eat It, and Dairylicious.
4-H Youth Development: 4148 teen counselors from NW Ohio participated in a
full day of direct instruction in areas of safety, health, behavior management,
group leadership, relationship and team building, program development and
implementation, interpersonal skills and teaching skills. 28 Defiance County
4-H camp counselors received additional training the night before at a Lock-In
with Williams County camp counselors. The Defiance County 4-H Educator
conducted “Rookies 101” session for 55 first time counselors and “Maintaining
Your Professionalism at Camp”. “Take the Pledge!” was the theme for the 2013
4-H Awareness visits. The 4-H Teen Leaders visited the 3rd grade
classrooms of eight county schools (528 youth) and sent home 4-H materials to
the 4th and 5th grade classrooms (974 youth). 4-H Mall
Show: Six 4-H Clubs and 60 young people participated in the 4-H Mall Show at
the Defiance Northtowne Mall. Defiance County 4-H Youth Development program
announced college scholarship recipients. The 4-H Endowment Committee has
awarded four $250 scholarships to the following 4-H seniors: Craig Higbea,
senior at Tinora High School, Alicia Meyer, senior at Tinora High School,
Brittany Conkey, senior at Fairview High School,
Abigail Friend, senior at Hicksville High School. A new scholarship was made
available to both 4-H and FFA seniors planning to enroll in an
agriculture-related program. This $375 award is sponsored by the newly created
fund – Defiance County 4-H Alumni Fund which is maintained at the Defiance Area
Foundation. The recipient for this award went to Samuel Garrigus,
senior at Fairview High School. Other awards presented to Defiance County 4-H
Youth: Ohio 4-H Sea Camp: Ethan Friend; Ohio 4-H Leadership Camp: Gabrielle
Friend and Emily Culler; Citizenship Washington Focus: Kristine Culler
Warren Schlatter,
Defiance County Engineer, met with the Commissioners for a weekly update.
Warren reviewed his Accumulated Revenue Report for March 2013, which was
$1,001,052.07, compared to $1,025,514.04 in March 2012. Warren informed the
Commissioners that the 2012-2103 snow season cost was $155,000 ($28,000 –
Labor, $13,000 – overtime; $32,000 materials (640 tons of salt); $82,000 –
Equipment). Warren stated that Trinity Road is now open and the crew is
currently working on a culvert replacement for Farmer Township Trustees on
Beerbower Road west of US 127.
Isaac Lee, Defiance
Chamber of Commerce, met with the Commissioners for a quarterly update. Isaac
explained the benefit received for new members for the average $235.00 annual
membership cost. There is currently a $300 match from the Chamber for any
advertising with Clear Channel Communications, as well as half off advertising
with the Crescent News in the first 60 days of the new membership. The Chamber
is randomly picking one member per month to spotlight in the Crescent News on
the first Sunday of the month in the business section. The Chamber also has the
availability for members to join pools for employee health insurance, BWC, and
energy programs to receive discounts.
Corey Walker, Defiance
County Job & Family Services Director, met with the Commissioners for a
monthly update. There are currently 5,273 individuals benefiting from $604,731
in Food Assistance in Defiance County.
Ken Keller and Julie
Keller, First Insurance Group, Marlene Goodwin and Sharon Scheuerman, Defiance
County Auditor’s Office, and Corey Walker, met with the Commissioners to
discuss the employee health insurance plan.
The Commissioners are
still reviewing options for the pending vacant Administrator position.
Release Approved: ____________________________________________________
Otto L. Nicely,
Defiance County Commissioner