Recap: Washington County Commissioners Meeting

MARIETTA, OH — Today there was a meeting of the Washington County Commissioners. Commissioner James Booth sat down to go over this week's agenda.

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Washington County Commissioners
AGENDA

NEW BUSINESS
Approve Agenda

This week's agenda was approved without dispute.

Approval of previous meeting minutes

This item was approved without dispute.

Bills from various departments

Bills from various departments were paid. Commissioner Booth says this week's bills were under $200,000, this was the lowest amount Booth has seen yet. "It's very expensive to run this county."

Additional Appropriation - Sheriff Sales Tax

This was a request by the Sheriff to collect some more funds out of the Sheriff's sales tax. Booth says the idea was to use the funds to upgrade storage of footage from bodycams and car cameras. Sheriff Larry Minks office asked for $10,500 and it was approved without dispute.

Additional Appropriation – EMA

This was additional funding needed for the EMA line item for $108.90 in unemployment through the Sheriff's Office. Booth says this is routine and was approved without dispute.

Signature - FCF award of Communities of Support Grant

Signature - FCF Early Intervention Grant

Signature - JFS Ohio Works First PRC Plans

These were acknowledgments that required the signature of President Kevin Ritter.

CSEA - Disposal of Old Copy Machine

This was Children's Services making sure that they disposed of county property properly.

Application from Mrbrdev, Mikes LLC, Fearing Township, to transfer Liquor Permit

This is an application for a liquor permit. It will be revisited next week at the Board of Commissioners meeting as is customary. If there is no objection from the public it will advance.

Delinquent Sewer Accounts

Certification of Delinquent Sewer Accounts to County Auditor

This is applying severely delinquent sewer accounts directly to the homeowner's property taxes.

Engineer - County Engineer Teamster Contract

The commissioners approved the union contract for the engineer's workers which included a small raise. There were some other minor changes made regarding healthcare.

Engineer – H2Ohio Funding

This was a letter of from Liberty Township supporting the commissioners' efforts to find funding for the Devola sewer project.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Sewer Rate Discussion

This was to raise the cost of the sewer rates. It passed and sewer rates will go up $3.65 a month for those on the county system. Booth says this will help them make much needed repairs to equipment to keep the county sewer system running.

9:00 am, April 29, 2021

9:00 Business Meeting

9:30 Behavioral Health Board & Integrated Services

This was a meeting with Integrated Services and the Behavioral Health Board. Integrated Services just recently began helping the Behavioral Health Board in Washington County deal with those suffering from substance abuse. The board says Integrated Services has been great and recommends anyone in the county who needs help to reach out.

10:00 Ohio Public Defender

The county public defender came to speak with the commissioners and share some good news. The State of Ohio will be kicking in more money to the public defender's office. Now instead of the county being on the hook for roughly $237,000 a year to fund the public defender, under the governor's new budget they only have to pay about $17,000.

10:30 OSU Extension - Update

A representative from Washington County's Ohio State University extension office came to speak with the commissioners about what's going on. She said that they're certifying those around here to run childcare centers. They're also doing serve-safe classes where they certify managers of restaurants to handle food safely.

11:00 Executive Session - Personnel Issues

There was a closed executive session regarding personnel issues. Nothing was made public about it other than no decisions were made.

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

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