Commissioners OK judge's requests; meet with First State Bank

Highland County Commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer met Wednesday with Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss, who requested a resolution for a new five-year contract for an office copier.

According to the judge, the new contract will reduce the court's monthly bill from $150.80 per month to $117.96 per month, and it will reduce the per-copy fee from .084 (of a cent) to .008.

Commissioner Tom Horst made a motion to accept the contract. Jeremy Shaffer seconded the motion, and all three commissioners voted in the affirmative.

Commissioners also approved a $1,500 modification in the Common Pleas Court budget for an interpreter for a Spanish-speaking defendant.

"We have to provide an interpreter, by law," Coss said. "This was pretty common a few years ago."

Coss said that in recent years, the county has not needed as many interpreters for non-English-speaking defendants.

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First State Bank grand opening

• Following a recess from 9-9:30 a.m., in other business Wednesday, commissioners met with First State Bank President and CEO Mike Pell and Amy Schoultheis, First State Bank Hillsboro Banking Center manager.

First State Bank (https://www.fsb4me.com) was founded in 1884 in Winchester. Its newest location is in Hillsboro at 730 Harry Sauner Road.

The Hillsboro banking center is First State Bank's ninth location, with other banks located in Manchester, Peebles, Seaman, West Union, Winchester, Ripley, Georgetown and Mt. Orab.

The official grand opening celebration for the Hillsboro banking center will be Friday, June 14 with a baseball-themed party.

The community is invited to join First State Bank for a “ballpark style” lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each hour, door prizes will be given away, including bag chairs, umbrellas, tote coolers and more. At 5 p.m., the grand prize giveaway will take place.

"We just want to say thank you to the community," Pell told commissioners. "We had our first board meeting in Hillsboro last night. Since day one, we have felt very welcomed in Highland County.

"We are excited about serving the community," Pell said. "And 'buying local' is very much something we support."

Schoultheis added, "Everyone has really welcomed us – from the business community, to the local politicians and elected officials."

Pell and Schoultheis invited the community to Friday's grand opening event.

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Resolutions

Commissioners passed the following resolutions, all by 3-0 votes:

• The establishment of an N-24 account for the county auditor for Rocky Fork Lake sewer capital improvements in the amount of $95,845.

• A Common Pleas Court budget modification of $1,500.

• Various budget modifications for VA Services.

• Budget modifications for the sheriff's office in the amounts of $23,900 and $22,450.

• A modification to appropriations for Child Protective Services in the amount of $9,683.28.

• Two modifications for Help Me Grow in the amounts of $5,900 and $1,000.

• Modifications in the county engineer's budget from salary to other expenses and salary to material, in the amounts of $70,000 and $15,000.

• A health insurance modification for Senior Citizens in the amount of $4,000.

• A new line item in the auditor's budget for Mowrystown debt retirement in the amount of $855.09.

• A transfer in the Department of Job and Family Services in the amount of $7,646.32.