Commissioners, GEVSD representatives encourage continued votes for McClain in T-Mobile contest

Representatives from McClain High School shared updates on their progress in T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition with Highland County commissioners Terry Britton, David Daniels and Brad Roades during commissioners’ Wednesday, Oct. 14 meeting. 

Attending the meeting were Greenfield Exempted Village Schools superintendent Quincey Gray and director of instruction Alisa Barrett, along with McClain High School students Zaylee Arrington, Riley Butcher, Lyla Chamblin and Savannah Collins, who took turns explaining the contest. 

“We are here today to ask for your support as our county commissioners,” Gray said. “We have already witnessed our community of Greenfield coming together and people throughout the county, and so we want to keep the momentum going. We just need people to vote through the 25th [of October], and we're going to bring it home.”

To vote for McClain, go to: https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/friday-night-5g-lights?region=midwest.

As previously reported, McClain High School already received $5,000 as one of a thousand schools selected as a weekly sweepstakes winner. From there, the school advanced as one of the Top 40 schools in the country, earning $25,000 and a T-Mobile-hosted home game celebration. 

As one of the Top 40 schools, McClain is competing against other schools in the Midwest to become a division champion, where the winner receives $25,000, a Gronk Fitness gym valued at $90,000 and a student leadership award prize of $5,000. 

If MHS wins the Midwest competition, they will be among the top four schools in the country competing for the $1 million football field upgrade grand prize in the next round. 

“This is about so much more than a football field,” Barrett said. “It is an opportunity for our students, our school and our entire community.”

Gray said that last year, McClain entered the competition and won the $5,000 initial prize, but this year they were dedicated to working toward higher goals.

“We ramped up a little bit sooner, got a committee together, and so we ended up with the $5,000 right off the bat, and then got the $25,000,” Gray said. “There are a lot of people behind the scenes doing work, a lot of work.”

As of this article’s posting, McClain is leading both the Midwest and the nation in vote totals, as noted by Gray. 

“You can’t let that slip away,” Daniels said. “Everybody needs to keep voting.”

McClain’s campaign has included lighting up the school and village of Greenfield with T-Mobile’s magenta color — which was also donned by commissioner Roades for Wednesday’s meeting — and sharing a number of promotional videos and posts from supporters and even celebrities.

“It's been a lot of fun watching who all's involved in this and who all's stepping up and playing in this game,” Daniels, a McClain graduate himself, said. “I’ve told all my friends. It’s really been kind of fun to watch.”

Highland County economic development Julie Bolender also said that she will “be going door to door” to offer promotional materials, such as posters, to area businesses to encourage people to vote. Any businesses that would like to receive a packet can contact Bolender at (937) 661-3010.

Later, at the recommendation of Daniels, commissioners also issued a proclamation to formalize commissioners’ support of the campaign.

In other discussion:

• During the passage of resolutions, commissioners approved several budget transfers for the Sheriff’s Office. Daniels said it was “important to point out that these transfers and these modifications in the sheriff’s budget are a result of the union negotiations that took place earlier this year that weren’t part of the original budget.

“These amounts that have been put in there have been, I guess, moved from other budget items within the general fund, so we have not increased our appropriation or our budget for these things,” Daniels said. “We’re not increasing the total overall general fund budget.”

Those resolutions included:

– A request from the Sheriff’s Office for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund from Transfers Out to Sheriff’s Salaries and Fringes in the amount of $293,000.

– A request from the Sheriff’s Office for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund from Contributions to Sheriff’s budget in the amount of $250,000.

– A request from the Sheriff’s Office for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund to Sheriff’s budget in the amount of $7,000.

– A request from the Sheriff’s Office for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund to Sheriff’s budget in the amount of $9,500.

• Commission clerk Ashleigh Willey reported that commissioners received six requests for quotations (RFQs) from contractors for proposed work at the Hi-TEC building and other possible projects. 

“I think they’re good for a year, so that we can just pick the firm that we want to use, and that way that bidding is done on there, so we can cut down on the delay,” Daniels said.  

Commissioners and clerks said they would go over the RFQs, as well as the laws on how they can select the contractors for projects in the next year, at an upcoming work session.

• Commissioners heard from a concerned citizen from the Rocky Fork Lake area, who said that the Highland County Health Department has not responded to his complaint regarding his neighbor’s house, which he said has rats running around. Daniels said they would share the resident’s photos and concerns with the Health Department as well. 

• Commissioners noted that they received a request from Debbie Zile for a new attorney appointment to the Highland County Law Library board to replace Juvenile/Probate Court Judge-elect Denny Kirk. 

• Roades said that he has reached out to the county’s electrical contractor regarding the hookup for a new kiosk for the Veterans Memorial at the Highland County Courthouse.

“He said he’s right now swamped with grain dryers and anything that has to do with hay, and this will be on the top priority,” Roades said. 

• At their Oct. 7 meeting, commissioners discussed an email from a concerned citizen, Eric Mathews, regarding proposed battery storage facilities in Highland County, and said they would issue a written response. They voted to table sending their letter as written Wednesday, as they said they received further correspondence and had additional questions to answer.  

Commissioners also made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A motion to approve column specifications and recommendations for the first phase of renovations for the Highland County Courthouse. According to ARPA funding coordinator Nicole Oberrecht and Roades, the recommendation from architect Chris Widener of the WDC Group is for one-piece Acoya wood columns. 

• An intergovernmental jail housing agreement among the Highland County Commissioners, Highland County Sheriff, Jackson County Commissioners and Jackson County Sheriff. 

• A request from Victim Witness to declare listed item[s] as no longer needed by the county and obsolete, ORC 307.12(B)(1). Therefore, the board declared the listed item[s] to be surplus property and no longer needed by the county.

• A budget modification within the 1000 County General fund – from Contributions to Supplies Human Resources in the amount of $200.

• A request from the Board of DD for a budget modification within the 2100 Board of DD fund in the amount of $65,000.

• A budget modification within the 5030 Rocky Fork Lake fund in the amount of $10,000.

• A request from Soil & Water for a budget modification within the 2070 Soil and Water fund in the amount of $2,000.

• A request from the Court of Appeals for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund – Court of Appeals in the amount of $2,800.

• A budget modification within the 2280 Records Preservation fund in the amount of $2,400.

• A request from the Engineer for a budget modification within the 2065 Repair MVL fund in the amount of $120,000.

• A request from the Clerk of Courts for a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund – from Clerk of Court Supplies to Contracts & Services in the amount of $1,806.87. 

• A transfer from County, Transfers Out, to Dog and Kennel 2000 in the amount of $2,000.