COMMISSIONER LEW HILKERT
By: Rebecca Miller, Associated Press
In the morning sessions of the Williams County Commissioners held on Thursday, March 26, 2020, along with the passage of a number of resolutions, four major topics were given quite a bit of time and discussion:
1. Brent Wilson of the Airport Authority gave an update on a number of items, especially a huge project which is up for federal funding 2. The purchase of a UV machine that will repurpose medical masks for reuse 3. Dennis Miller from Maumee Valley Planning Organization spoke concerning the other two: a. The Kunkle Project Public Hearing- new wastewater collection system and treatment lagoon facility and the funds available for that b. The CHIP (Community Housing Impact Preservation Program) Public Hearing Due to the worldwide concern and attention turned on COVID19 at this time.
Commissioner Terry Rummel broached the subject of purchasing a machine that is designed to repurpose N95 masks. He explained that Bob Golding from Daavlin Corporation has offered to sell one of their $5000 machines to the county for $2500.
The hospital in Bryan already has one up and running and he asked for discussion concerning whether they should get one of these UV light machines that kills germs. Over the next few minutes, Hilkert and Davis joined the conversation and points that were made by the three of them, leading to a decision, included: •State of Ohio Board of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton has mentioned that UV lights are being used for cleaning masks and that it is helpful •It can be used by any health facility in the county and even surrounding counties.
Fulton County Commissioners reached out to Rummel concerning the possible purchase and use. Despite the hope that it would never be needed, “it would be a good safety measure just to have this on hand with the expertise on how to use it.”
With the reduction of N95 masks availability it seems prudent It would definitely be available to all of the Nursing Homes. It will clean up to twenty five masks every five minutes; There are two individuals who have already said they are “willing to donate their time to be able to learn how to use it and get it set up in a facility” so that it could run 24/7.
A call to the county liability insurance company was made and they said that if the county buys this machine, they “would back it from a liability standpoint since all the certifications are not in place at this time.”
They said that under the circumstances they most certainly would cover it. Following the discussion, a motion was made and approved to go ahead with the purchase from Daavlin Corporation at the cost of $2500 of this machine, with thanks to this local company for “really stepping up to the plate and helping their community.”
It was also agreed that a copy of the resolution and the invoice will be sent to the liability insurance company through CORSA. One addition was that as “this isn’t an FDA certified technology” each facility that uses it will need to sign off on it that they understand that it is not guaranteed.
Commissioner Rummel also pointed out that he feels everyone who wants to stay on top of the COVID19 information stream, should be watching Governor DeWine’s Daily 2:00 press conference on Channel 13. He also mentioned that another good place to get information is OhioChannel.com.
Resolutions that were approved: •Resolution 98 – Supplemental Appropriations for the Auditor in the amount of $2000; Engineer’s Office for $500; and Sheriff’s Office for $9,280
•Resolution 99 – Continuing the date of the first hearing for Ditch #740 petitioned for by Marvin Dietsch •Resolution 100 – Advertising for unexpired term for the Williams County Board of Developmental Disabilities
•Resolution 101 – Authorizing the Williams County Clerk/Administrator, Anne Retcher, to perform, in the Board’s absence, all functions conferred or incumbent upon the Board in case of a disaster or emergency (allowing Retcher to sign a contract under $5000) •Resolution 102 – Approving Agreement on Behalf of Williams County Communication
•Resolution 103 – Approving Agreement on behalf of Williams County Emergency management Agency •Resolution 104 – Entering into a Contract Agreement on behalf of Williams County Department of Job and Family Services
•Resolution 105 – Entering into an Agreement on behalf of Williams County Hillside Country Living •Resolution 106 – Entering into a Contract Agreement on behalf of Williams County Department of Job and Family Services
•Resolution 107 – Entering into a Memorandum of Understanding between Williams County EMA, Williams County Commissioners and Williams County EMS
•Resolution 108- Continuing date of final hearing on Ditch #710 Petitioned for by Patricia Timmerman and others to Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 10:30 a.m.
•Also Signed were: Special Hauling Permit #20-008 to Hollinger Land Clearing and Excavating, Inc.; Letter to County Employees and Spouses covered under CEBCO Health Insurance Plan; Letter to Maryland Transportation Authority; Certificate of Substantial Completion for Project #1-2019; Credit Card Appropriations for April 2020 on behalf of Williams County Auditor and Williams County Commissioners; OCEAN System form for Maumee Valley Planning Organization; Dog Warden Weekly Report for week of March 16, 2020 through March 22, 2020; Contract Documents for Project #3-2020; Purchase Documents for 2020 F350 Crew Cab, XL Series for Engineer’s Office.
•Minutes for March 19, 2020 and March 23, 2020
•Accept and pay the bills as submitted by Vickie Grimm, Auditor The commissioners began their morning with a report from the Airport Authority, Mr. Brent Wilson who first informed them that George Gardner is stepping down from the Board and asked that the Commissioners appoint Scott Wyse, “a new private pilot.”
Secondly he proceeded to give a large number of details concerning the project for the east end taxiway at the airport. The FAA Director was there about three weeks ago to inspect the airport and to inquire into their ability to acquire the discretionary funds by June 15 of this year to make it possible for the Federal Government to give them a 3 Million dollar grant.
Wilson explained that with $120,000 from the State of Ohio and the $10,000 that the Airport Authority has they just need $110,000 to bring them up to where the Federal Government will Grant them the $3 million.
Following some discussion about what would be accomplished with the money, and whether they can be ready to use it this year, the Commissioners informed Wilson that they will wait to approve a resolution after the FAA makes a final commitment.
When asked if he needed a letter of support from the Board of Commissioners, Wilson said not at this point. He expressed that he just wanted to be sure they are behind this and the commissioners assured him that they are.
In answer to a few questions, Wilson said that traffic is up at the airport as more people are using small planes to get places during this time, rather than endangering themselves by flying public.
Around 10 a.m. the Commissioners entered the third session of the morning, welcoming Dennis Miller of Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) for a Public Hearing in regards to the Kunkle Project, the “building of a wastewater collection system and a treatment lagoon facility to serve the incorporated area.”
“The intention will be to have the rates, the user fees, to be consistent with what our current structure is which is $45.00 a month,” Miller stated.
All of the information following, which Miller shared, will be put into Resolution format for a future meeting, but the commissioners thanked him for the explanations and informed him that as soon as he gets those ready for them, they will pass them as they are in agreement with his recommendations.
He apologized for not having them ready at this time. Miller shared, “We can apply for up to $750,000 through the residential public infrastructure grant program, through the Community Development Block Grant program through the State of Ohio.”
“At this point, there are two project estimates, one at 3.88 million and the other at $4,222,000. We are going to be seeking funds to address that shortfall in funding.”
Commissioner Brian Davis said that the amount in the Corps of Engineer funds that is available is just short of a million. Miller continued that also available is: principal forgiveness through the Water Pollution Control Fund of $1,380,000; $500,000 from the H2O program through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the $750,000 would be in addition to those funds.
At this point, Miller brought up a concern that due to the virus issues, “there is a lot of uncertainty in the program right now” concerning some of the funds out of the 2019 program. Apparently, the county was counting on those funds to complete another project and now it is up in the air.
Miller said he had contacted the state office and “they indicated that they hopefully weren’t going to impact the 2020 program which is this program.”
The money for the Bona Vesta project was to come out of the 2019 grant and Miller said, “We may loose that but we may have an opportunity to reapply in 2020.” It was agreed amongst those in the discussion that the state, which manages the Federal money for these projects, has managed to keep it, using the terminology “repurpose.”
“They are going to repurpose the money,” Miller said, “so I guess it will be a fluid situation. We are just going to make every effort we can to get ours. The application for 2020 will be available for July first so I am trying to get all this done in advance so we can be the first ones in the door to make our request.”
It was agreed that it would be appropriate to send a letter, asking to be moved up the list, if they find they were on the list and if they get an official notification that the money actually was rescinded. Miller also addressed an associated requirement, “a resolution is required to adopt an anti-displacement plan which essentially says we won’t displace anybody from their homes as a result of our activity in Kunkle.
There is also an Environmental Review form indicating that we understand that we can’t let the project move forward until we have all of the environmental releases.” The second Public Hearing, for the Community Housing Impact Preservation Program (CHIP), began at 10:18 following a short recess.
Miller was again the presenter and explained that every two years they have an opportunity to apply for funding. “We are wrapping up our 2018 program right now. We are down to about three units to complete before the end of October, we are doing real well on that program,” Miller said. “There has been a pretty high level of need in that area, so we had plenty of applicants. The next cycle will begin in September of this year so there will be about a one month overlap between the two programs.”
The program involves a county wide area as well as the City of Bryan and is a partnership of the two entities together. “That allows us to apply for up to $700,000,” Miller continued. “We have to break that down into activities: owner occupied rehabilitation which combined between city and and county, we are budgeting $414,000. That is our staple program in the housing area, in which we help property owners upgrade their properties.”
Other sections of this break down as: the owner occupied home repair which is about $166,600; rental home repair of $16,000; habitat project budgeted for $20,000; and total administration for that two year period of $84,000; totaling at $700,000. Miller reported that the state has indicated that they would like the county to potentially consider offering an emergency housing assistance activity that would allow them to “help people that are unable to pay their rent or make their mortgage payment, due to being laid off and not having income tome their standard monthly payments.”
He recommended that if they choose to go that route, they should back out of the Rental Home Repair activity and repurpose that money for the emergency housing assistance. He shared his thoughts that the state is attempting to be proactive to keep the problem of foreclosures from happening that occurred in 2008 and 2009 during the recession.
This move would keep people from being displaced from their home. Commissioner Davis asked if $8000 would be sufficient and Miller replied, “What we may have to do is look at both the rental home repair which would be $16,000 between the city and county and we could always add the $20,000 for habitat in there which would put us at $36,000 which I think would be sufficient.” Davis agreed.
Miller continued that it is something that they will just need to watch and see how it “plays out.” The state is setting up a program, recapturing money from 2018 and 2019, and are giving this five county region about $30,000 to start that type of activity immediately. The Board of Commissioners agreed that when he gets the resolution authorizing them to apply, ready, they will approve it.
Rebecca may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com