NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, March 9, 2017
The Board of Defiance County Commissioners
met in regular session at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 9, 2017 in the in the Second
Floor Conference Room of the Commissioners’ Session Room at 500 Court Street,
Defiance, Ohio 43512 Commissioner Ryan Mack called the meeting to order. Also present were Commissioners Gary Plotts
and Mick Pocratsky, Sherry Carnahan, Finance Manager/Administrator, and
Stephanie Metz, Clerk.
Dennis Miller, Maumee Valley Planning
Organization; Jerry Hayes, Defiance County Economic Development; Vickie Myers,
Defiance County Treasurer; and Matt Wagner, TetraTech, met with the Commissioners
to discuss various Brownfield projects in the County. Once a site access
agreement has been signed and finalized, TetraTech can proceed with Phase 2 on
the former Zeller property. Dennis stated that he applied to the US EPA for a
$400,000.00 grant for the 5 County area for costs of
assessments and cleanup; this may be able to be used for the former Zeller
property. Matt stated he has estimated the cleanup and demolition costs for the
former SK Tools property to be between $500,000.00 and $600,000.00; he stated
that there were no ground water issues on the property, and the majority of the
costs are for asbestos remediation. A follow-up meeting is being scheduled to
further discuss this property. The next steps for the Vortex property is to
obtain commitment letters from interested parties and then meet with JobsOhio
to start the grant application process.
Dennis Miller, Maumee Valley Planning
Organization, met with the Commissioners to discuss the proposal submitted by
the company in response to the Request for Proposals from non-profit agencies to perform necessary functions for its
PY2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Community Development Program
(including the Community Housing Impact & Preservation (CHIP) Program,
Community Development Allocation and Competitive Programs, Residential Public
Infrastructure Program, Economic Development, and Revolving Loan Fund
Programs). As grants are received,
Maumee Valley Planning Organization will submit administrative agent contracts
as each grant is received.
Sandy
Kessler, Emma Kirkpatrick, and Ellen Smith, Maumee Valley Planning
Organization, met with the Commissioners for the Public Hearing to discuss
future (2-5 years) projects to incorporate in our Community Development
Implementation Strategy (CDIS). Also in attendance were: Cary Mallett and Sherri Ramey, Village of Sherwood; Craig Mescher, Access Engineering Solutions; Kent Miller, Village
of Hicksville; and Tom Vance, Village of Ney. Sandy reviewed the Defiance
County Community Implementation Strategy and requested any updates to be
submitted by the local entities as soon as possible, as this is submitted with
the grant applications to the State. Sandy also provided an overview of the
Community Development Block Grant Program.
Shane
Wilson, Tammy Wilson, and Josh O’Hara, Fort Defiance Humane Society, met with the
Commissioners and Randy Vogel, Defiance County Dog Warden, to discuss possible
changes to the current management agreement and to request additional funding,
as the current funding amount of $25,000.00 is not enough to operate the budget
of the agency. They stated that they are attempting to assist the County residents
to reduce the feral cat population, but they have not received much feedback.
The Commissioners stated that they will assist with any public information
meetings in the County. The Commissioners agreed to work with them and the Dog
Warden to determine a per dog amount to be provided to them for expenses of
dogs taken to the shelter by the Dog Warden. They can then discuss amounts that
could be specific to certain operating expenses.
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.
Release Approved: ____________________________________________________
Ryan
Mack, Defiance County Commissioner