Commissioners debut new meeting room; hear updates on OneOhio, HCSO project

After six months’ worth of meetings at Southern State Community College, Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels debuted their new meeting room at the Highland County Administration Building Wednesday, Oct. 15.

With the renovations to the top floor of the administration building, the commissioners’ former combined lobby, workspace and meeting area have been converted to a large conference room, while their offices moved across the hall. Work is currently underway on the first floor of the building.

Britton thanked Southern State Community College President Dr. Nicole Roades for the college’s hospitality over the past six months, as commissioners have held both their regular Wednesday morning meetings as well as special meetings, discussions with department heads and land bank board meetings at the college since April.

“We just wanted to thank her and her staff and everybody that was involved to take care of us,” Britton said. “Anything that we wanted, she took care of, so we just want to say thank you.”

Dr. Roades, who was present for Wednesday’s meeting, said she would pass along the gratitude to SSCC staff, as she congratulated commissioners on their return to the administration building.

“I think your new space is phenomenal,” Dr. Roades said. “We surely miss you out at the college already.

“The invitation is always open for anything you need.” 

“Thank you for your continued help,” Daniels added.

The meeting included an update from Highland County Probation Department Program Director/Chief Probation Officer Tonya Sturgill regarding the OneOhio program. 

As previously reported by the state, “The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created under the leadership of Governor Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost, and other state and local leaders, with the mission advancing Ohio’s addiction prevention, treatment and recovery efforts now and into the future.

“The Foundation is governed by a 29-member board from across Ohio and is funded by 55 percent of settlement funds that Ohio is receiving from the pharmaceutical industry as a consequence of its role in the national opioid epidemic. Funds support local efforts to prevent and combat addiction and are also invested to support those efforts for the long term. Visit OneOhioFoundation.com for more information.”

There are 19 OneOhio “regions,” and Highland County is in Region 9, along with Adams, Brown, Fayette, Pickaway, Pike, Ross and Scioto counties. Sturgill is one of three county representatives on the OneOhio board, along with Hillsboro Police Chief Eric Daniels and Whiteoak Township Trustee Fred Yochum.

After awarding $2.75 million to Region 9 applicants last year (a complete list can be found at https://www.oneohiofoundation.com/grantawards), Sturgill announced that the board will be disbursing $2,149,500 this year.

“The application process is actually going to start pretty soon,” Sturgill said. “They're going to release the RFPs [requests for proposals] in December this year, and then the applications will be finalized in January. Our region board members will be reviewing them in February to make those decisions. 

“They have changed the process a little bit. There will be some back and forth after the RFP, so the applicants will submit the RFP, and then they will be contacted if they should even fill out a full application. It's not going to be as drawn out with everyone kind of waiting for months to find out if they were awarded. They’ll have a pretty good idea, and it'll be at least narrowed down after the RFP process.”

For the upcoming round, Sturgill said she has sent out a survey to various partners, as she and the other Region 9 counties are asking for feedback on what they feel are areas of concern.

“Last year, the focus was on prevention,” Sturgill said. “This year, we just want to find out what our communities are lacking and what do they see a need in before we make those final decisions.”

Britton asked if the Region 9 board is also working toward distributing the funding “somewhat even” among the counties. Sturgill said prioritized “programs that were going to serve multiple counties” with the first round of funding, while some applicants out of the service area or that were for-profit were “excluded completely.”

Sturgill also noted that the board is “really impressed” with the progress made by the first group of grant recipients thus far.

“At this point, all the programs are off the ground, but when they started doing the reporting numbers, some were only two or three months in, so we'll have another update on those in about six months,” she said.

In other discussion:

• After a reminder from Sheriff Randy Sanders that the HCSO “needs to find out who gets the bids,” commissioners voted 3-0 to accept a $12,000 quote from Dance Excavating for time-sensitive work at the jail as part of their upcoming flooring project.

In September, Cierra Moore of the county’s maintenance department explained that items “bolted to the floor” — including the “racks that the inmates sleep on, tables and chairs” — will have to be removed for the contractors and reinstalled after the flooring is complete. Moore said that the removal/reinstallation of the items is not covered by the flooring company.

As discussed in September, if the county maintenance department has to do the work, they would need to purchase the equipment for the job, plus ensure that they meet all of the state standards for reinstalling the equipment. Daniels suggested that they look into whether any local companies can assist, and the county received two quotes. No action was taken after a discussion Oct. 8, pending any additional (lower) estimates.

“We've talked to Clinton County, Fayette County and Greenfield about housing prisoners for us,” Sanders told commissioners Wednesday. “Hopefully, the way they've got it planned with us, we can keep anybody here that's out on bond, or that has court, during that basically weeklong period.

“Our biggest thing there, as I mentioned last week, is whoever gets that bid to do that, they’ve basically got to work on our schedule.”

Although commissioners said last week the quotes were “particularly high,” Daniels pointed out that “both contractors looked and saw the same scope of work,” as the two quotes were within $2,000 of each other.

“I think we take the low bidder and just move on with it,” Daniels said. “I mean, I know that we’ve got to get something done out there.”

The motion was approved contingent upon the contractor being able to work within the HCSO’s schedule, as suggested by Roades.

Commissioners also voted 3-0 to approve an order form and term plans with Airespring for the HCSO, as Sanders said the agreement will save the office “a couple thousand [dollars] a month out of our phone bill.”

• Commissioners approved the certification of Public Housing Agency [PHA] plans consistent with consolidated plans, at the recommendation of commission clerk and county Fair Housing coordinator Ashleigh Willey.

According to Willey, the Highland Metropolitan Housing Authority’s five-year plan is due for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“It's time for that five-year plan, but then also there's an annual renewal, and basically that just states that the county has a consolidated plan that matches the same goals as what Metropolitan Housing is submitting,” she said. “I reviewed it, and the goals are the same as what we would want for fair housing, so I think it’s fine to submit.

“Both plans share a unified commitment to providing safe, decent and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents, addressing homelessness and promoting self sufficiency among assisted households.”

Daniels thanked Willey for her efforts as the fair housing coordinator.

“While she’s doing a great job as our clerk, she's also working on fair housing issues for the county and residents of the county,” he said. “We appreciate the work that she does.”

• Damon Lucas, CEO of FRS Transportation, announced a raffle for a 2020 Ford Transit Connect van no longer in use by the company. The van has approximately 214,000 miles and is valued at $5,000. Tickets are $10 each and may be purchased at the FRS office at 313 Chillicothe Avenue in Hillsboro before the raffle ends at Dec. 1.

“I think it's something that maybe we'll do in the future with our retired vehicles,” Lucas said. “I think it's a great opportunity. It's been very well maintained by ODOT standards and would be a great vehicle for somebody for a little while.

“This is something that some of the other ODOT agencies, or some of the other rural public transits, are doing as well with some of their vehicles, and it's been very well received in the community, as far as an opportunity to win a vehicle for $10. That's something that we've considered in the future, as far as fundraising, as well.”

• Daniels reported on a recent meeting of the board of the South Central Ohio Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

“They've had some mechanical problems down there, and they replace some chilling units over the course of the last couple years,” Daniels said. “There was some obvious problems with install, and they've got some related problems that are result of the work that was done.”

Daniels added that at this time, the SCORJDC is determining whether the costs will be covered by insurance or by the contractor, and if so, whether legal action will need to be taken.

“At some point or another, since we are participants and members, if it comes down to the point where there is additional funding that needs to be done to repair that, the county might have to contribute to that as well,” Daniels said.

• Commissioners attended a lane viewing in Clay Township after their regular meeting. Upon their return, they voted 3-0 to vacate the lane, which is approximately .429 mile long and located north of state Route 138 on the property of Daisey Thomas Farms.

In other action, commissioners made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A $6,922 quote from Howland Asphalt Sealcoating for driveway sealcoating at the county’s recently acquired property at 212 Hobart Drive in Hillsboro.

• A $2,895 quote from Reed’s Tractor Sales for two toolboxes and an aluminum tailgate for a recently purchased truck for the sewer plant.

• A request from Probation for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the (2665) Specialized Docket Subs Fund in the amount of $62,408.11.

• A request from Veterans Services for an additional appropriation from unanticipated revenue within the(1000) County General Fund in the amount of $574.

• A request from the Highland County Engineer for a budget modification within the (2065) Repair – MVL Fund, in the amount of $90,000.

• A request from the Court of Appeals for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the (1000) County General Fund in the amount of $8,050.

• A request from County Court for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the (2210) County Court Special Projects Fund in the amount of $5,000.

• A request from the Board of Elections for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the (1000) County General Fund, Board of Elections, in the amount of $17,078.50.

• A contract among commissioners, Jay-Car Construction Company, Inc. and the WDC Group for work on the new truck storage and office facility for the Highland County Engineer.

• A change order with Highland Solar and New Market I and II solar farm final resurfacing, reflecting a $756.14 credit.

• A contractor’s estimate/pay application from Mechanical Construction Co, Inc. for Phase II work at the Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant.

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