By: Rebecca Miller
Williams County Commissioners came out of Executive Session, during the Monday, December 28, 2020 meeting, With Action. A motion was made and approved on the advice of PACT (Protecting All Children Taskforce) that they “authorize the Sheriff to begin the search of a Deputy who will be assigned to work on behalf of JFS under the oversight of the Sheriff.”
The new position will be a Sheriff Deputy assigned to JFS in the role of Detective and will work with the Sheriff’s office, JFS, Courts, and local law enforcement agencies in the County.
Present in the Executive Session were PACT Members Sheriff Tom Kochert, Judge-Elect Karen Gallagher, Prosecutor Katherine Zartman, Job and Family Services Administrator Monica Gazarek and Commissioner Brian Davis, along with Commissioners Lew Hilkert and Terry Rummel.
Commissioner Terry Rummel stated following the motion to approve the recommendation, “I would just like to thank the members of PACT for reaching out and putting this together. This is a huge step forward for Williams County and thank you all for working so hard and coming together and bringing this team together to get this done.” The newly created position will be housed at JFS.
In regular business, the commissioners voted to pass Resolution 398 – Adopting Annual Appropriations during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 setting the Total General Fund Balance at $16,012,617.61.
Commissioner Hilkert commented, “As we work through the Budget this year, we know that we could be facing this coming year with some uncertainties and we are prepared to have discussions if we need to review the budget as far as any decreases we will try to do that as quickly as possible. “
“As of right now we are looking at it as ‘business as usual’ and we will take it one month at a time.” Commissioner Davis added, “I would like to say, too, that I appreciate Vickie’s work (Williams County Treasurer Vickie Grimm) and her staff’s work in getting this budget done. It is a lot of work and it is all used at the end of the year and we appreciate her efforts for a balanced budget.”
Other items approved were:
•Resolution 399 Supplemental Appropriation(s) on behalf of WC Auditor; WEDCO; Common Pleas Court; Dog Pound; EMS; Engineer; Hillside; Juvenile Court; Probate Court; Treasurer; and Title Department
•Resolution 400 Approving an agreement for technical assistance between the Board of County Commissioners and Maumee Valley Planning Organization for administration of WC RLF as submitted by MVPO
•Resolution 401 Entering into an agreement between Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and WC Sheriff for provision of Criminal justice information services through Northwest Ohio Regional Information System (NORIS) at a cost not to exceed $1250 for a term of January 1-December 31, 2021 as submitted by Sheriff Kochert
•Resolution 402 Entering into a COVID-19 Immunization Service agreement between Walgreen Co. and Hillside Country Living at no cost, effective January 5, 2021 as submitted by Donna Sprow
•Also Signed – Letter to Ohio Department of Heath in regards to the Executive Director/Administrator change at Hillside Country Living effective Jan. 4, 2021; MVPO Project #1-2021 Village of Edon – RLF Waterline improvements notice to bidders; Cancellation of Bonds on behalf of Judge Bird with Cincinnati Insurance Co.; Application for Dealer Assignment and Purchase Agreement on behalf of Juvenile Probation new vehicle 2020 Ford Explorer; Dog Warden Report for week of 12/14/20-12/20/20; Commissioner office monthly expenditure for the month of January 2021; Press Release regarding WC PACT
•Minutes for December 21, 2020 and payment of bills
The Commissioners also met for a few minutes on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 to approve Resolution 403 Supplemental Appropriation on behalf of WC Juvenile Court; Minutes of December 28, 2020 and payment of bills. Commissioner Hilkert adjourned the meeting with Happy New Year wishes to everyone.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com