Elected officials discuss road work, storm damage

By Tay­lor Kaser -

County Engi­neer Randy Bush gave an update for the replace­ment of the Co. Rd. 9 bridge at the elected offi­cials meet­ing on July 2.

Due to elec­tri­cal line issues, the bridge may not be fin­ished till Octo­ber, explained Bush. He explained that the work has proved to be more com­pli­cated than orig­i­nally thought. All fund­ing — includ­ing grant monies are in place, he said.

EMA Direc­tor Joe Edwards related that many homes in the county were left with­out power after recent storms — as of that morn­ing 1,312. Cool­ing sta­tions in the county were set up at the local Red Cross and Seniors on Cen­ter. He noted there have been no major issues in the county, besides power out­ages at pri­vate residences.

Edwards also explained the pos­si­bil­ity of acquir­ing emer­gency funds from the state and fed­eral. A state of emer­gency has already been declared by the gov­er­nor. He noted that all pub­lic offi­cials that have had employ­ees work over­time need to keep track, for pos­si­ble reimbursement.

Sher­iff Steve Bren­ne­man said his office has been busy deal­ing with after-effects of the storm. He hopes to have two new Dodge Charg­ers by mid month and the new pick-up truck later, after it’s fin­ished being outfitted.

Com­mon Pleas Judge Howard Hall gave updates on the con­struc­tion work at the cour­t­house, August 1 is the intended com­ple­tion date. He also noted that some posi­tions in the court will now be switch­ing from being gen­eral bud­get funded to grant funded.

County Trea­surer Dan Green only reported that col­lec­tions from taxes are going well.

Com­mis­sioner Tom Harden gave a break­down on pos­si­ble monies the county could receive from casino rev­enue, $418,000 after taxes. Com­mis­sioner Tom Whis­ton said that the Speaker promised no fur­ther cuts to the local gov­ern­ment fund. It has been spec­u­lated that due to casino rev­enue, the state would cut all fund­ing for local county governments.

Whis­ton said that no bids were received for the KOA camp­ground on St. Rt. 95. The prop­erty will be offered again on July 13. Whis­ton noted that their office has received a lot of inter­est in the property.

In regards to the county bud­get, and esti­mates for next year, Whis­ton said that more deci­sions will have to be made, “What direc­tion we’re going to take as far as our finances, though it doesn’t look like it’s going to improve next year.”

Com­mis­sioner Olen Jack­son noted the lat­est meet­ing for the Well­ness Pro­gram had good atten­dance. The pro­gram is designed to encour­age county employ­ees to make health­ier choices.

Health Insur­ance is one of the largest line items in the bud­get, said Whis­ton. “We need to be respon­si­ble in our­selves, as far as our health insur­ance,” he commented.

The com­mis­sion­ers will be review­ing what levy items will be intro­duced on the fall bal­lot in their com­ing reg­u­lar pub­lic meetings.

Posted by Taylor Kaser on Jul 11 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.