Commissioners make truck barn approvals, OK other contracts in brief meeting

Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels approved several contracts and resolutions in an abbreviated meeting Wednesday, June 18, ahead of their annual trip to KAMP Dovetail to grill burgers and hot dogs for campers and volunteers.

KAMP (Kids And Motivated People) Dovetail is a volunteer-run summer camp sponsored by SATH for individuals with disabilities in Highland and surrounding counties of Ohio. SATH is celebrating 36 years of KAMP this summer.

“I think they started out having 10 campers, and now it’s just grown exponentially,” Daniels said. “All you have to do is go out and look at it and see the passion that goes into it. 

“I mean, there's hundreds of volunteers out there, and we’re cooking 1,000 burgers today or better.”

This year’s KAMP kicked off Monday, June 16 with a full week of activities for campers and volunteers, with a number of events, such as an “anything with wheels” show and their annual auction and carnival, open to members of the community. 

As commissioners were anxious to get to Rocky Fork Lake to join the festivities, they met for approximately 10 minutes Wednesday, making the following approvals:

• Commissioners voted 3-0 on a motion to authorize proceeding with project bidding for the Highland County Engineer’s truck barn.

According to commission clerk Ashleigh Willey, commissioners also took action related to the truck barn Wednesday, June 11 in a work session with county engineer Chris Fauber. The commission voted 3-0 to authorize Robert W. Baird & Co. to proceed with the pre-payable direct placement, 15-year term financing in the amount of $4.5 million.

As previously reported, commissioners voted 3-0 Feb. 26 to enter into a purchase agreement for the former Pike Gas property at 144 Bowers Avenue in Hillsboro at a cost of $390,000. The property includes two parcels, for a total of 0.3742 acre.

State Senator Shane Wilkin (R-Hillsboro) announced the investment of $1 million from the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund (OTSCIF) to support the project, which will accommodate over 20 trucks, in June 2024.

Commissioners voted in November to direct $2 million of their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to the project. The amount committed exceeded the initial request made when commissioners reviewed potential ARPA projects in 2022. At that time, Fauber submitted a $1.4 million proposal to build a new 115’x160’ truck/equipment storage facility, replacing an approximately 50-year-old structure.   

In December, commissioners also committed another $500,000 in ARPA funding toward engineer services and contract administration by the WDC Group for the project.

• A delinquent debt collection agreement among commissioners, the Ohio Attorney General and County Court was authorized, as Roades said this is a new contract to “pursue collections of unpaid fines and court costs.

“The new judge is wanting to implement a collection process,” Roades said. “The court software system, Henschen, is available to program our software to upload overdue fines and costs to the AG for collections automatically.”

• Commissioners approved a contract with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Highland County Department of Job and Family Services for the purchase of social services.

“That's been in existence, to my knowledge, probably close to 20 years,” Highland County JFS Director Jeremy Ratcliff said. “It's Title XX funds or other appropriate funds. The health protective services we're able to use provides basic homemaker services to elderly citizens in our community.”

• Commissioners agreed to move forward with a proposal for design services for Highland County Courthouse renovations as submitted by WDC Group, LLC. 

• Commissioners voted to submit a letter of support on behalf of Main Street Greenfield, which is seeking a T-Mobile grant “for lights and a sound system downtown” in the village of Greenfield, according to Daniels.

• Commissioners authorized the commission president to execute environmental review documentation and certification form for general administration, fair housing and planning for the Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) Program.

In a separate motion, the execution of a request for release of funds and certification for federally funded state projects with the State of Ohio Department of Development Office of Community Development was also approved.

Resolutions approved included:

• A resolution declaring listed items by the Sheriff’s Office as no longer needed by the County and obsolete, pursuant to ORC 307-12(A)(1). 

• A budget modification within the (2070) Soil & Water Fund, in the amount of $1,000.

• A request from Probation for a budget modification within the (2620) PSG FY24-25, in the amount of $9,446.47. 

• A request from the Auditor request for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the 2055 Real Estate Assessment Fund in the amount of $17,317.50.

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