By: Rebecca Miller
The passage of resolutions was short at the beginning of the March 15, 2021 WC Commissioners meeting, which began at 9:08 a.m., with approval given for:
•Resolution 103 Entering int a CDBG RLF Waiver Asbestos abatement contract
•Resolution 104 Entering into a Media Conversion agreement on behalf of Williams County Recorder
•Resolution 105 Appointment of Signatory for OWDA for Kunkle Sewer Project
•Also signed were: Special Hauling Permit #21-009 for A&A Custom Crushing; Special Hauling Permit 010 for Pahl Ready Mix Concrete (Weber Sand and Gravel); Dog Warden Weekly report for week of March 1-7, 2021; Tax incentive program – application for Real Property Tax Exemption and Remission
•Minutes dated March 11, 2021 and payment of bills
Commissioner Brian Davis shared with others that Hull Engineering has provided a timeline on the MARCs tower. Based on that timeline, it looks like the completion date with a punch out list will be mid-June.
He notified the mayors via email and is asking Hull to give them a Light-up date for the tower, as to whether it is before or at the punch list. Commissioner Lew Hilkert expressed an interest in seeing the blueprints and it was determined that they are in the engineering packet.
Following a recess, the commissioners went into an Executive Session to consider discipline of a public employee, and came out with no action taken. At 10:20 a.m. Michael Burns of BAIRD Finances, out of Columbus, began his presentation about possible refinancing opportunities on some current bond issues, which the county could have. County Auditor Vicki Grimm and County Treasure Kelly Gray were also present.
Burns spoke for the next half hour, answering questions and clarifying information as well as explaining certain facts with the use of graphs. It was agreed that the commissioners will take his proposal, to place three loans in a single bond, into consideration.
He agreed to check into the possibility of using local banks, working through BAIRD, to not only get the interest rates down, but to “shop locally.”
He gave them a basic idea of how long it would take for the process once they put it into motion and clarified when they can lock in a rate for the bond. Board President Davis said they appreciated his information and look forward to speaking further with him.
Following another recess, the commissioners met with Desirae Eisenman and Dee Custar with CASA. The ladies gave an update to the commissioners on the program, sharing first an overall picture of the organization as a whole and then went into a little more detail on CASA in Williams County.
The highlights of the presentation were:
•CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) is a national program and is in in four of the Northwest Ohio counties, with close to 60 volunteers.
•2020 was rough due to COVID, but WC CASA served 62 children (not cases), with 16 volunteers (5 who were new), and over 600 documented volunteer hours logged.
•A training session for 12 individuals, drawn from all four counties, is scheduled for the end of April. We are in need of more volunteers so this is good that five of the 12 are for WC.
•Judge Gallagher is hopping to use more of the CASA than the GAL’s, or guardian-ad-litems, that are paid attorneys.
•They are trying to keep it down to no more than two cases per CASA, and keeping the volunteers working as they are available, respecting that they are volunteers.
•The care of the volunteers in “impeccable” and they do not have any turnover as the volunteers are well treated and trained. They are thorough in their recruiting to find volunteers that will flow well with the group that they have.
•Each volunteer needs 12 hours of continuing education related to what they are doing, and the group provides a lot of that.
•Williams County CASA group meets regularly for “lunch and learn” in which they help each other process and stay on top of their job
•Financially they are funded partially by Ohio CASA, and right now they are doing well, but as it grows and gets busier, they may need to come back to the Commissioners and ask for more funding.
•They hope to “keep the number of CASAs growing to mount up to the need.”
The Commissioners went into another Executive Session, this one to discuss employment, and came out with no action taken. The meeting adjourned at 12:05.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com