Federal, local funding and grants among topics at county commission meeting

Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels had a busy meeting full of appointments Wednesday, April 16, as their agenda included discussions of federal and grant funding, a primary endorsement, insurance and various county contracts.

Commissioners agreed to sign a letter addressed to U.S. Representative David Taylor and Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted in support of Head Start and Early Head Start, at the request of Highland County Community Action Organization director Julia Wise.

“Within the president's budget that was proposed and then with the one on the Senate and the House, a lot of our programs weren't included,” Wise said. “Two of those are Head Start as well as HEAP. I just want to share that it's a big struggle to lose those programs within our county. Community Action serves over 6,000 unduplicated families, and in HEAP alone we're serving close to 1,000 and Head Start, 177 children and families unduplicated.”

The National Head Start Association (NHSA) posted that the organization “is deeply alarmed by the proposal to eliminate Head Start contained in the Department of Health and Human Services 2026 Discretionary Budget Passback.

“While labeled ‘pre-decisional,’ the document says, very succinctly, ‘The Budget does not fund Head Start,’” the NHSA posted. “Head Start is more than a preschool. It provides whole-child essential support – from early learning and health screenings to nutritious meals and family services – helping to level the playing field for children who might otherwise fall behind before they enter a kindergarten classroom.”

LIHEAP, or the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, is also reportedly on the chopping block in the Trump administration’s proposed budget. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association posted testimony of Executive Director Mark Wolfe before the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies last week.
    
“LIHEAP is currently in crisis.” Wolfe said. “The Trump Administration eliminated the Division of
Energy Assistance (DEA) — the office within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) that oversees LIHEAP — and fired the entire staff. There is $378 million in remaining FY
2025 funding that has not been released to states, and HHS has not released a plan for
distributing the funds.

“This gutting of federal support could not have come at a worse time for the households served by LIHEAP. One-out-of-six families are currently behind on their home energy bills and the total amount these families owe their utilities is approximately $21 billion, the highest level since 2021 and up by about 30 percent since the end of 2023.”

Wise emphasized that for Community Action — which is marking its 60th anniversary this year — these cuts could prove fatal.

“Those are very important things to our community, investing about $5 million — over half of our budget at this point in time — and without those programs, I can tell you, we probably will not be able to survive,” Wise told commissioners.

Commissioners voted 3-0 to issue the letter in support of funding these services.

“I read the letter earlier in the week and understand, being one of the board members, that you guys do serve many, many people, those in need, and with the Head Start program, which you guys seem to do wonderful at,” Roades said.

The text of the letter to Rep. David Taylor and Sens. Moreno and Husted follows: 

Dear Rep. Taylor, Sens. Husted and Moreno 

We wanted to share our support for the importance of the many programs that the Highland County Community Action Organization, Inc. operates within Highland County.  We understand that several of them have not been included in the upcoming budgets at a Federal Level.

HCCAO operates full day Head Start and Early Head Start Programs which are a great assets in our county serving over 200 unduplicated children per year. Head Start children make progress in language, literacy, and math, but also have better social skills, impulse control, and approaches to learning.   They receive health and disability screenings and notorious meals. 

Head Start offers a holistic approach and focuses on the whole family.  With limited childcare in the county, the organization also has implemented before and school childcare services so parents can be employed throughout the county.  

The Home Energy Assistance Program also has a huge impact across Highland County. Over 800 unduplicated households were served last program year. Many seniors, with increasing utility costs, were able to keep their heat on during this cold winter.  

Further, we understand that if the Community Services Block Grant is eliminated, there will be 42,000 meals to seniors throughout the county eliminated as those funds keep HCCAO’s Senior Nutrition and Emergency Food Pantries operational.

The nonprofit Community Actions, across the country, are not seeking additional funding. They are simply asking to continue receiving their funds to help the residents across the country.  

As Highland County Commissioners, we have numerous partnerships with HCCAO. Beyond serving on the nonprofit Governing Board, we have contracts with them in many areas including Housing and Workforce. With your support, they can hopefully continue to HELP PEOPLE and CHANGE LIVES.

Commissioners
Brad Roades
Terry Britton
David Daniels

* * *

• On an unrelated HCCAO topic, commissioners agreed to allow Community Action to resubmit the 2025 Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) grant.

“Last program year, I did not receive the grant due to a lot of errors, which I was only in there a month,” Housing Director Jeanette Mottie told commissioners. “The contract is totally revamped, so hopefully it will go through this time.”

That was not the only grant-related discussion on the agenda Wednesday. Roades and commission clerk Ashleigh Willey, both of whom are members of the local America 250 Committee, announced that Highland County was one of 57 communities selected to receive a $5,000 grant for their celebration of the U.S. semiquincentennial.

“They had over 125 applications, because individual villages and such can apply for those as well, snd we found out yesterday evening that Highland County did receive the $5,000 grant,” Willey said. “We are hoping to do a reenactment, a mock trial, of a case that happened here in Highland County back many years ago. That was one of the big things we applied for the grant for.

“That event is taking place on July 18, 2026. It's going to be a full day of activities.”

According to a press release from Visitors Bureau of Highland County Director Jamie Wheeler, “‘Highland County's Story Day’ will center around Ohio's oldest working courthouse, where mock trials and tours take center stage. On the courthouse lawn, the Pioneer Days exhibits will highlight key aspects of Highland County's heritage, including our agricultural, industrial and cultural contributions throughout history.

“This event will culminate in a ‘living history’ concert recreating the Hillsboro Military Band, which played an integral role in community gatherings from 1880 to 1910. Through this unique musical experience, attendees will better appreciate the traditions that shaped our county.”

Roades said that in addition to the grant money helping them with this project, having the committee in place gave them “almost two years in advance” planning for their event.

“It's coming together with lots of great ideas, and we have the whole entire county involved in this,” Roades said.

Along with Roades, Willey and Wheeler, committee members include Kyle Barr, Main Street Greenfield; Megan Blackburn, City of Hillsboro; Julie Bolender, Highland County Economic Development; Judge Rocky Coss, Highland County Common Pleas Court; Rita Smith Daulton, Village of Leesburg; Christine Hamlin, Lynchburg Historical Society; Ike Hodson, Highland County Clerk of Courts; Vicki Knauff, Highland County Historical Society; and Alice Teeters, Leesburg Historical Society.

In yet another grant discussion, commissioners agreed to execute a memorandum of understanding among the Statewide Consortium of County Law Library Resources Boards, Board of Commissioners and Highland County Law Library Resources Board.

Highland County Law Librarian Debbie Zile said she submitted a technology grant application to the Statewide Consortium of County Law Library Resources Boards, requesting $498.99 to replace the Law Library’s copier and printer, and their request was approved.

“The copy machine we have in the library at this time is at least 16 years old,” Zile said. “The feeder does not work anymore. You have to lift up the lid and put everything on the glass to work. We don't have a lot of people making copies, but we do have some. The attorneys frequent the Law Library, and it makes it very taxing to have to lift the lid and lay everything on the glass to make copies.

“Also, we have a computer that mostly the attorneys use that provides access to Westlaw, an online legal research agent, and a lot of the attorneys use that. There is a printer that hooks up to that computer. That printer is now going out.”

Zile added that she “did not ask for high-money items, because we do not use a lot.

“We don’t have a large budget, and this will help us,” she said.

In other discussion:

• Commissioners approved a resolution in “support [of] the State Issue 2 renewal of the State Capital Improvement Program on the May 6, 2025 statewide ballot.

As previously, commissioners met with Highland County Engineer Chris Fauber April 2 to discuss Issue 2, with the officials asking voters to support this measure for a constitutional amendment regarding public infrastructure capital improvements by permitting the issuance of general obligation bonds.

Since fiscal year 2017, Fauber said the county has had 16 projects, including wastewater and street projects in Hillsboro, street projects in Greenfield, a sewer project in Leesburg and road projects in the county. In the current 10-year cycle, the county and its municipalities have received $37,780,863 in funding, according to the engineer. Fauber added that since the program began, it has funded a total of 111 projects in the county.  

“Once again, that is the state's infrastructure program that has been highly successful for 25, 30 years now,” Daniels said Wednesday. “I want to continue to reiterate that this isn't a tax. This is allowing the state to sell those bonds to provide infrastructure funds for local governments.

“Almost every community in Highland County has received a portion of those funds at some point over that time.”

• County Risk Sharing Authority (CORSA) Membership Services Manager Ali Redmond, along with Smith-Feike-Minton Insurance president Brian Smith and Guernsey County commissioner and CORSA board president Dave Wilson, addressed commissioners on this year’s CORSA renewal.

Redmond told commissioners there was a 12.7-percent “increase poolwide" with this year’s renewal, with Highland County coming in “underneath the pool average” with a 10.78-percent increase.

“We do realize that it is another third year of increases and just wanted to note that our board of directors and John Brownlee, our managing director, are looking at some other avenues that maybe we can help with some of the inflation that we're seeing in our reinsurance rates that then will hopefully help our member rates going forward,” she said.

Some of the other figures discussed by Redmond included the county’s “total insured value,” which is $122 million; their net premium for 2025, which is $249,000, up $24,000 from 2024; and their credits from their dividend and from the loss control incentive program, which totaled $23,896 combined.

Redmond also briefly reviewed “the pool as a whole,” as 73 Ohio counties are CORSA members.

“In 2021, our reinsurance was $4.7 million, and now this year it’s $11.7 [million], so you can tell over five years how much it's really increased in the reinsurance piece,” Redmond said. “It’s just with all the natural disasters going on around the United States, and now it's trickling down to us, and we really are trying to help mitigate those costs.”

Wilson added that he and Brownlee have met with companies regarding reinsurance who praised CORSA for “their efforts in loss control.

“It's really tough, especially in the area of cyber, to be able to provide any coverage,” Wilson said. “Because of the track record that we've got — and it comes down to the individual pool member counties, such as Highland, and the work that you do and your loss control people have established a solid benchmark to go along with other loss control coordinators throughout our pool — that's been the difference.

“It has, even with the increase, been able to maintain some kind of a rein on where premiums are going, and especially when you consider a 10-percent-and-change increase.”

Wilson added that they “really do appreciate your efforts here on the county level” in risk mitigation.

Smith attended to introduce himself to commissioners, as his company recently purchased Heskett Insurance Agency, which provides administrative services for the county policy.

“We plan on keeping our office here in Hillsboro,” Smith told commissioners. “We also represent Delaware County, so we've been working with CORSA for 20-plus years now. It should be a smooth transition for you.”
 
• Highland County Airport Authority president Bob Prosek attended the meeting to discuss the need to replace the clean burn furnace at the airport.

“Our furnace is a used oil furnace, and that's how we supplement a lot of the heating for our big hangars,” Prosek said.

Prosek said that during their annual inspection last fall, their service technician found multiple “cracks in the heating tubes” and repaired them, but the technician advised they would need a new furnace.

“The original price was $19,875 installed,” Prosek said. “However, they gave us a trade-in of $1,250 and an April discount of another $800,” Prosek said. “It brought it down to $17,825, which really is pretty good for that size of a furnace.”

Commissioners thanked Prosek for the update and for the documentation he provided, which they said they would review.

• Commissioners approved a master service order agreement with Airespring at a monthly cost of $1,559.24 after a brief conversation with Highland County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jennifer Schinkal and administrative assistant Shana Reffitt, as well as Tim Hamilton of Greystone Systems.

“Basically, it's going to save us about $2,300 a month,” Reffitt said of the agreement.

In response to a question from Daniels, the group said the agreement impacts their office phone systems only.

“This would transition all of their legacy telephone services there to a newer, actually fiber-based technology with redundancy,” Hamilton said. “They've also had a lot of trouble over the years with the telephone lines out there, and so this is a redundant telephone connection solution that should increase the reliability of this telephone connection.”

After commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the group’s request, Schinkal added that it was National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.

“We just appreciate all of our dispatchers,” Schinkal said. “The citizens call in in a very traumatic time in their lives, calling the 911, and they're just the calm on the other end of the line.”

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve two contracts submitted by Highland County Job and Family Services.

The first was a subgrant agreement with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

“It's essentially the agreement between the county and now the three state agencies that oversee the services we provide, which is the Ohio Department of Medicaid, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and now the Department of Children and Youth,” Highland County JFS Director Jeremy Ratcliff said. “It's our agreement to administer the programs in accordance with federal regulations, state law, federal laws and regulations.”

Also approved was an annual IV-D contract among commissioners, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and Highland County Job and Family Services for prosecuting attorney legal services, effective April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026.

• Commissioners advised the county’s ARPA funding coordinator, Nicole Oberrecht, to obtain quotes for painting the interior of the new records storage building prior to its opening. Daniels asked Oberrecht to look into “painting everything now except for the roof.”

• The Ohio Division of Liquor Control notified commissioners of a liquor license request for the new Dollar General in Paint Township. Commissioners said they would give the community two weeks to submit any comments before issuing a response.

• Commissioners presented a proclamation in honor of Southern State Community College’s 50 years of service to southern Ohio. For more, see the story and photos at https://highlandcountypress.com/news/highland-county-commissioners-cele….

Also approved were:

• A request from the Board of Elections for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the 2300 –
2025 Primary Election Grant Fund in the amount of $46,000.

• A request from the Highland County Auditor to create a new line within the 1000 county general fund – Vendors License O.C.C. Also requested is an appropriation of $1,000.

“As a result of House Bill 366, on April 9 in Ohio, the one-time fee for a new vendor's license increases from $25 to $50,” auditor Alex Butler said. “With that additional $25 each month, counties will be required to send that additional revenue back to the state, and it will go in the Organized Crime Commission fund. That fund is used to reimburse local subdivisions across the state for expenses incurred when their law enforcement officers participate in organized crime task forces.

“Even though it's a new expense line, it’s a loss at the end of the day, because we’ll just send it back to the state commission.”

• A request from Job and Family Services for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the
2015 Child Support Enforcement fund in the amount of $25,000.

• A $746 change order from BlueScope Construction for asbestos testing to the Highland County Administration Building.

“No asbestos was detected in the building, and no 10-day notification was required for our type of project that we're undertaking, so we’re ready to proceed,” Oberrecht said.

• A contract among commissioners, the county engineer and PDK Construction, Inc. for the HIG-VAR Guardrail FY25 project.

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