Recap: Washington County Commissioners Meeting

MARIETTA, OH — This week the Washington County Board of Commissioners met at the Job and Family Services building. There were a number of items on this week's agenda. Kevin Ritter, President of the Board of Commissioners, sat down to go over the agenda, item by item.

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Washington County Commissioners

AGENDA
9:00 am, April 22, 2021

9:00 Business Meeting

9:30 CDBG Critical Infrastructure Proposals

The commissioners heard four Community Development Block Grant proposals. These are for grants that are available to different organizations that want to make infrastructure improvements. Ritter says ultimately they're going to rank these proposals from most important to least important and that's how they're going to determine where the grant money goes.

10:00 Common Pleas – Drug Court Grant

The commissioners heard from Judge Kerenyi from the county common pleas court about the drug court program. Kerenyi reported that they have received a $500,000 grant to keep the drug court running for another three years. Kerenyi told the commissioners that the drug court has been a huge success.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Sewer Rate Discussion

NEW BUSINESS
Approve Agenda

This item was approved without dispute.

Approval of previous meeting minutes

This item was approved without dispute.

Bills from various departments

This item was approved without dispute.

Resolution for support of the Second Amendment

This resolution was to make Washington County a sanctuary county for the Second Amendment. Ritter pointed out that this resolution did not create or change any law. It simply was to symbolically send a message to Columbus and Washington D.C. that this county recognizes the Second Amendment as the amendment we use to defend all of our other rights. This passed unanimously and without dispute.

Resolution for support to rename Veterans Service Building

This item was to rename the Veteran's Service Building on Pike Street after local legend and hero to veterans in need, the late Chad Wright. This passed unanimously.

Additional Appropriation – Sheriff (7)

Additional Appropriation - Building Department

Additional Appropriation - JFS

Additional Appropriation – Maintenance

Additional Appropriation – Juvenile Center

Additional Appropriation - Engineer (2)

Transfer – Auditor

Transfer - Clerk of Courts

Ritter explained that all these additional appropriations and transfers had to do with moving monies around for required state audits. He said there were a variety of things going on here but all in all these were routine. These all were approved without dispute.

Then & Now

There were six then and nows approved without dispute. A then and now is a bill that's already been paid by some agency in the county, and that agency coming to the commissioners to get retroactive approval.

JFS - Subgrant Agreement with Family & Children First

This is a renewal of an annual grant agreement with Family & Children First. It was approved without dispute.

Transit - 2022 Federal and State Operating & Capital Applications

This was another annual renewal. It was passed without dispute.

Covid Taskforce - Request #2021-12

This is a request for approving money spent from the Cares Act by the county's Covid Taskforce. Ritter says this month most of the money they approved was for testing county employees. The request was approved without dispute.

Matamoras Area Seniors – Request for Senior Levy Funds

This item was for the Matamoras Area Seniors to use levy money to install foam insulation into their building. This was to cut down on heating and cooling costs. Ritter says this is allowable by law so they approved it without dispute.

MARCS Tower Fees billing to Fire Departments

This item was for the county to pick up the MARCS tower maintenance tab for the local volunteer fire departments. The MARCS towers are owned by the state and the gear on the towers allows for departmental and interdepartmental communication. Ritter says they usually pay about $350 a year for this maintenance, but due to COVID-19 they haven't been able to fundraise as they have in the past. He says since the county could afford it they thought it appropriate to pay for this maintenance this year.

The commissioners added an item to the agenda which was an agreement between the board of commissioners and a consulting group called Sunday Creek Horizons.

Ritter says this is a group that is going to help the county find funding for the Devola sewer project. He says they'll leave no stone unturned to find funds for this expensive project. This will hopefully help them find federal or state money that could be available to bring down the cost.

DATES TO REMEMBER
Viewing to vacate Bartlett Street, 10:30 a.m. May 6, at intersection of South Street and
State Route 555

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