By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners held their regular meeting on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, to hold several executive sessions regarding compensation and bid openings. Commissioner President Terry Rummel, Scott Lirot, and Bart Westfall were in attendance.
The morning began at 8:00 a.m., with an executive session with Darrel Moore of Hillside Country Living. They returned to the open session with action.
Rummel made a motion to authorize Moore to send in a transfer request to the Auditor’s Office for $100,000 for Hillside.
“This is a continuing on for the state shorting us money on Medicaid reimbursements,” explains Rummel. “They will write that check sometime in July 2026, and we think they owe us around $693,000.
“We’ve given them half a million dollars – $500,000 a couple months ago, and this makes $600,000. So really they are still running on a $93,000 (deficit), still owed from the state.
“I see a bright future for Hillside, but this is just to get them through the transition period,” continues Rummel. “We are filling the state’s hole.”
On September 2, 2025, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Department of Medicaid must reevaluate the funding of nursing homes through “quality incentive payments.”
The Court recognized a significant shortchange for many nursing homes throughout the state, ultimately ruling in favor of an overhaul for accurate funding.
For Williams County’s Hillside Country Living, these losses stretch back to as far as July 2024. The nursing home continues to operate without the warranted funds from the state, placing it at a shorthand.
Rummel suspects that Hillside may need another transfer in the future to keep up with the loss. With no exact reimbursement date reported, they continue to operate on a shoe-string budget while trying to provide the best quality of care for their seniors.
With Hillside remaining one of fourteen county-run nursing homes still operating within the state of Ohio, the commissioners continue to stay invested with the current financials.
The board officially entered general session at 9:00 a.m. They approved the agenda with a small amendment – changing the Department of Aging’s executive session from 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
After the payment of bills, Bart Westfall raised questions on the recent billing of medical transport for Job and Family Services. With two installments of $12,000 a piece, it provides medical transportation with Keller Logistics for Medicaid users.
“It’s a flow through us,” says Rummel. “It’s expensive to transport people to doctor’s offices – kids to appointments, parents with no transportation.
“Williams County has a transportation problem. I’ve always said we need it, but we have no horsepower to start it up and get it up and running.”
A resolution approved transfer appropriations was partially passed and discussed amongst the commissioners. Transfers were approved for the Common Pleas Court Probate and Juvenile Division, Engineer’s Office, Hillside Country Living, Job and Family Services, and the Sheriff’s Office.
An additional transfer for the Williams County Airport was withheld for more information. “There was rumor that they had a past-due bill that we weren’t planning on paying (for them),” says Rummel,
“Scott was in a meeting where they talked about a past-due bill from Delta Airport.” The bill was said to amount to $102,000.
“I think the question is, when we gave them the money last time, they would not need another dime for ten years,” comments Lirot.
“All this money, this $258,000 we gave them was going to be good and set at the airport, other than our operating expenses.” This portion of the resolution was tabled for future clarification.
A lease agreement was entered into on the behalf of the Board of County Commissioners and Job and Family Services. Submitted by Christie Roan, the lease and depreciation agreement will be at a monthly cost of $455.29.
Seventeen permits to work within County and Township road right-of-ways were approved on behalf of Charter Communications.
Additional business discussion centered on vacancy considerations for the Area Office on Aging Board, a budget request for Williams County Victim Assistance, and a final confirmation on the new loan approval for Hillside.
At 9:00 a.m., the commissioners entered an executive session for compensation with Administrator Vond Hall. They returned to open session at 9:59 a.m. with no action.
A bid opening was held at 10:00 a.m. for Project 9-2025, regarding a bridge deck replacement on country road 11. Three bids were entered, with the correct bid bond included, as follows;
-Miller Brothers Construction, Inc. for $967,061.02
-RG Zachrich Construction, Inc. for $870,322.51
-Vernon Nagel, Inc. for $928.367.04
The engineer office will make their decision and submit their request for a formal resolution in the near future.
An executive session was then entered at 10:30 a.m. for more compensation requests with Sarah Stubblefield of the Department of Aging.
An additional executive session was held for compensation requests by Kyle Brigle of the EMS department. The meeting adjourned directly afterwards.