A feasibility study on a possible fire district for the eastern part of Fulton County got a significant financial boost recently.
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved March 2 a request from the village of Delta to allow it to use $11,250 in grants that was to be used for a downtown revitalization study and spent on the fire district study. The village will repay the loan.
The grant money will reduce the cost to the 10 entities involved in the study to about $675 each. The entities are: Royalton, Pike, York, Swancreek, Fulton and Amboy townships and the villages of Delta, Swanton, Metamora and Lyons.
The study is estimated to cost slightly less than $18,000.
The Feasibility Group is chaired by Gary Loar of Metamora. Vice Chair Rick Kazmierczak of Swancreek Township attended the meeting. Since the group is not an official body, Delta will be the contact entity for invoices, Kazmierczak said.
Chief Stan Crosley of the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association will conduct the study, Kazmierczak said. The study will explore possible efficiencies of operations and ensuring equal fire protection for the district, he said.
The Fulton County Health Center is progressing with a project to build a four-story office building on its campus as it has outgrown its current office building. The hospital is working on financing that ultimately will come through the USDA.
The hospital needed a resolution that clears up certain parts of the lease with the county including the construction of the hospital itself in 1971. The result is those sections will no longer be in effect, Toledo attorney Aleta Bonini said.
The current bonds will be terminated as well, once the new zero financing comes through, she said.
The county does not own the hospital building, but it does own the land the building sits on as well as the property where the new office building will go, CEO Patty Finn said.
“We have a lease for 50 years that begun in 1971 and have the ability to renew for another 50 years,” Finn said. “We have actually paid the lease for 100 years.”
The project will take 18-24 months to complete and will cost $19 million, Finn said. It will begin as soon the loan goes through, she said.
The new building will only have three floors complete at first to allow the hospital to grow into it, Finn said. The new offices will house new staff members and some from the older offices, she said.
Fulton County collected nearly $1.3 million in sales taxes through Jan. 31.
The commissioners reviewed the report at their March 2 meeting. The totals for January 2017 were larger than any of the 10 previous years.
The Dog Warden collected $370 in fees, including $260 in licenses and $80 in redemptions for the week ending Feb. 26. The office issued 12 citations.
The board awarded the waste disposal contract to Republic Services of Bryan. The rate will be $651 per load for a 40-42 cubic yard compacted container and the same price for a 40-42 cubic yard closed top container. Disposal will be the Four County Solid Waste District.
The board also awarded Republic Services the recycling contract for ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the county’s solid waste facility.
The rate will be $195 per pull and all the market price being reimbursed.
The board awarded the contract for drainage improvement to Branch 3 and Branch 3e3 of Dry Creek through the Single County Ditch Petition 2127 to Blausey Trucks and Excavating of Elmore for $40,570.20.
The board will have a bid opening for Bridge 25D.2 replacement at 9:30 a.m. March 28 at the commissioners’ room in Wauseon.
The engineer’s estimate is $385,000.
For more information visit the engineer’s office north of Wauseon at 9120 CR 14 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or the website.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com