WEBPAGE REQUEST … Following an explanation of what Active Transportation is, Sandy Gordon, Todd Roth and Jeremy Suffel, presented a request to be placed on the Williams County Webpage, at the March 28, 2022 commissioners meeting. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Monday morning, March 28, 2022 held a few short sessions for the Williams County Commissioners. They began the day with the approval of the following:
-Resolution 94 transfer resolution on behalf of EMS
-Resolution 95 Entering into a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of WC JFS between JFS and Ohio State University Extension for SNAP-ED Nutrition program for teens
-Minutes of previous meeting and payment of bills
-Also signed: Credit Card appropriation for WC Recorder’s office for April 2022; Proxy for Commissioner Davis to attend CCNO Board Meeting in place of Commissioner Hilkert
After a half hour recess, they went back in session to meet with the Active Transportation Committee. Todd Roth, Sandra Gordon and Jeremy Suffel were present for the committee.
Roth began by clarifying the name of the group…the Federal Government calls anything that has to do with getting somewhere in a way that promotes health, such as walking, hiking, biking, canoeing, and horseback riding, as “active (physical) transportation.”
That is the term that is used on grants and surveys. It has nothing to do with a transit system in the county. So, the promotion of Active Transportation means helping to move forward with trails, parks and other means of exercise in the county.
Their hope is that more means of Active Transportation will draw people to the county for recreation and to purchase homes here.
Gordon shared that as they have been actively working on this in Montpelier, they have many stories of people from all over the U.S. and even other countries who have biked or hiked on the trails there.
The purpose of the meeting was to ask if the Active Transportation Committee would be able to utilize the County’s webpage to make themselves available to those looking for what the county has to offer.
Roth said that they have worked with Maumee Valley Planning Organization to produce an Active Transportation Plan, and will be looking at what funding options are available.
Suffel said that with some minor user training, they will be able to set up an account for the Active Transportation Committee and he sees this as feeding the goal they have for the county web page.
“It is bringing everybody that one stop shop to figure out what’s going on in the county and who they need to contact,” he explained.
Suffel said that having completed step one of asking permission from the commissioners, they can now move on to step two of purchasing their domain and then he can redirect that to their section on the county web page.
Money will be needed for that purchase so Roth said they will most likely be back to ask for that. The commissioners encouraged them to move on to the next step.
The commissioners then went into an Executive Session, meeting David Newcomer from the Port Authority, to discuss the purchase or sale of property. With No Action, the meeting adjourned.
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com