Commissioners updated on disaster declarations related to recent storms

Highland County commissioners Terry Britton, David Daniels and Brad Roades heard updates on recent disaster declarations in connection with August and September storms during their Wednesday, Sept. 30 meeting.

Highland County Job & Family Services director Jeremy Ratcliff shared a copy of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s state of emergency proclamation with commissioners and discussed related financial assistance available for those qualifying.

As previously reported, Governor DeWine has declared a state of emergency in Highland and other counties as a result of severe flooding beginning Sept. 9. 

“I was notified on Monday that we would be receiving some additional allocations, and so those funds have been deposited, so to speak, to our financial statements,” Ratcliff said. “We have some extra money for folks that were impacted by the flooding and could come out and apply. It is means tested, so they would need to be under 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. 

“We have a very, very small additional allocation for folks that don't necessarily meet that income requirement.”

Ratcliff said that up to $1,500 is available for means-tested individuals or up to $750 for those outside the income requirements “to help out with deductibles or damage, whatever it may be.” 

For more information, Ratclilff said to watch the Highland County Department of Job and Family Services Facebook page for updates.

On a related note, Highland County EMA Director David Bushleman provided an update on both the September flooding and the August derecho.

For the flooding, which “covered from Sept. 9-Sept. 22,” Bushelman said he submitted “13 damage assessments for individual assistance” with the state. There were no public assistance requests, which could have been submitted by “townships, county engineers, schools” and other municipalities, Bushelman said.  

“All of that for the flooding has been submitted to the state, and we just wait and see what the governor does with it, if it will be sent on up to the president for a federal declaration,” Bushelman said. 

Daniels asked about the village of Greenfield, which suffered “some pretty extensive damage” due to the flooding.

“I have sent it to all the townships, village of Greenfield, engineer’s office, everybody,” Bushelman said. “I sent it out at least three times, I know. Some of them I talked to personally, and nobody submitted any public assistance.” 

As previously reported, on Aug. 11, the county experienced strong winds, plus torrential rain and lightning, causing property damage and widespread power outages. For that storm, Bushelman said that he submitted “25 damage assessments for individual assistance and then two public assistance assessments” related to damage caused by the August derecho, the latter of which were reviewed by FEMA Sept. 18.

“Now we'll just wait and see what the president does with it,” Bushelman said. If we get a federal declaration, then that will open up all new avenues. I've already been told that FEMA will be in Hillsboro for a week if we get the presidential declaration.”

It was announced Oct. 2 that President Donald Trump has issued a “major disaster declaration” in Ohio in response to the August derecho and other storms. 

Bushelman also highlighted the work completed by Team Rubicon, a volunteer group of veterans and first responders, during a two-week span in August in response to the derecho.

“They did 101 work orders,” Bushelman said. “Going off the FEMA rate schedule, they had $135,843.52 in volunteer labor and $4,974.50 in equipment resources, so Team Rubicon's total investment in Highland County was $140,818.02, which did not cost us anything.”

Bushelman thanked the community for their support of the Team Rubicon volunteers.

“We had six great restaurants here in town that helped feed them,” Bushelman said. “We had two church camps that we used to house them, and then we had over 12 faith-based groups that either donated their camps for the teams to stay or help feed them. 

“We had great support from the community through that.”

In other discussion:

• Commissioners approved a grant completion letter for Southern Ohio Communication Services, as Daniels said that the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding projects are winding down. He recognized county ARPA funding coordinator Nicole Oberrecht for her role in overseeing the numerous projects.

“They [Southern Ohio Communication Services] have complied with the terms that we set forward, so this is just a letter of completion that they met their obligation to us,” Daniels said. “The ARPA money that we had available to us is coming to an end, and I think that congratulations are in order for [Oberrecht’s] administration of those dollars and getting things done in a timely manner. I think we've made great strides with the funds that were provided for us.”

• Human Resources director Amy Bradley again encouraged commissioners to take action on her Sept. 16 recommendation to use American Fidelity Insurance for ancillary benefits for county employees. Daniels said that he “hasn’t had a chance to look at it.”

Bradley said that the company’s benefits are “all purely voluntary” for employees and “at no cost to the county.” Of particular interest are the FSAs [Flexible Spending Accounts] and Section 125 compliance assistance.

“They will help us out with the Section 125,” Bradley said. “We do need to have this, underlined, because we did a major change with our benefit plan. 

“Section 125 is the IRS code. The baseline is anything that we give an employee has to be taxed, and there’s an exception in the IRS code, which is this Section 125, that says if it meets these requirements — things such as FSAs, HSAs, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance — if it meets these criteria, then you can give it to your employee tax-free. What we really need to do with that is make sure that we have that written document on file if we should ever be audited by the IRS or something like that.”

Bradley said that if commissioners choose not to work with American Fidelity, she “will have to get that somewhere else,” likely through “some sort of tax attorney.

“American Fidelity will provide it for us for free, as a cost of doing business,” Bradley said.

Daniels asked who had “administered our 125 plan” previously. Bradley said it was an agent with a different insurance company used by the county, as they offered them one year free but are now “going to charge a fee.

“Prior to that, it had not been done, I don't think, since the ’90s,” Bradley said.

Daniels also asked if the County Commissioners Association of Ohio could assist, and Bradley said she had already reached out “and they referred us to a tax attorney.”

In response to another question from Daniels, Bradley verified that the county’s payroll software has “the capacity” to add new benefits to the system. Britton also asked if it would be a “year-to-year” contract.

“I believe we just have an agreement, not necessarily a contract, just kind of like a statement of understanding or something like that to move forward,” Bradley said. 

Daniels suggested that commissioners “put it on for next week” to consider a vote.   

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to authorize a change order with J.R. Enterprises for the Highland County Justice Center mezzanine project.

“The contract amount increased $16,064,” commission clerk Mary Remsing said. “The original contract was $136,500. The increase takes it to $152,564, so it gives us a shortfall overall of $3,063 45. that just raises our local match from $94,876 to $97,939.45. 

“The contractor was going to use nylon nuts, but for the state inspector, they said he could not use those. Some of the increase is due to the change in the nuts and bolts that he had to use because they had to be secure.”

Daniels said the change order also involved a request for the payment of a $76,282 invoice, which was authorized as part of the motion.

• Commissioners discussed, but did not act on, an $84,600 quote from Weller’s Plumbing & Heating for a new Dolphin water system at the Hi-TEC building. Cierra Moore of the county’s maintenance department said she recommended tabling the matter until she could do further research, while commission clerk Ashleigh Willey pointed out that the price exceeds the threshold for bidding.  

• For an update on ongoing projects, Roades said the the county’s request for proposals for work at the Hi-TEC building is out now, while fencing has been installed at the future home of the county recycling site on Hobart Drive. He also asked Moore to submit a revised price recommendation for shutoff valves at the Justice Center. 

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

• A planned maintenance agreement proposal from Weller’s Plumbing & Heating Inc. for Sept. 30, 2026-Sept. 30, 2027 in the amount of $23,891.

• A $4,786.67 lease agreement between Highland County commissioners and Southern Ohio Appraisers LLC for 108 Governor Trimble Place. As previously discussed, several offices within the Highland County Courthouse will be relocated to that space during the second phase of courthouse renovations.

• An amended scope of work and budget with the Office of Community Development for the 2024 Community Development Program.

• A contract extension agreement with Parry Landscapes and Lawn Care, LLC for snow removal services. 

• A motion authorizing Bushelman and Paint Creek Joint Fire/EMS District Chief David Manning to pursue a Rural EMS Modernization grant. 

• A resolution to authorize a “then and now” purchase order and to authorize the county auditor to issue warrants for payment.

• A budget modification within the General Fund, Economic Development – from supplies to Travel, Training, Expense in the amount of $600.

• A budget modification within the General Fund, Economic Development – from Telephone to Contract and Services in the amount of $10.

• A request from Probation for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds in the amount of $1,500 within the probation services fund.

• A resolution to authorize Christopher M. Fauber, Highland County Engineer, to prepare and submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and or Local Transportation Improvement Program(s) and to execute contracts as required.

• A request from Job & Family Services for a budget modification within the 2115 Children Services Fund, from Foster Care to Adoption Assistance and Reimbursement in the amount of $75,000.

• A request from the Board of Elections for a budget modification within the 1000 County General Fund, Board of Elections in the amount of $7,088.63.

• A request from the Board of Elections for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds due to the unanticipated revenue from the Secretary of State’s Office as of the Precinct Election Official Training Grant in the amount of $3,412.23.

• A request from the Auditor’s Office to declare a list of item(s) 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.