Holmes County appointments for 2024

The Holmes County commissioners doled out 17 county appointments to various positions that need to be filled for the upcoming year. These appoints include the following:

—Misty Burns, Holmes County director of public relations, was appointed to Civil Service representative; County Equal Employment officer; County Fair Labor representative; County Loss Control coordinator; and County Risk Sharing Authority Voting Designation representative alternate.

—Dave Hall, commissioner, County Risk Sharing Authority Voting Designation representative; County Issue One Labor Compliance officer; and Official Alternate Representative for the purpose of voting at the annual meeting of the County Commissioner’s Association of Ohio for 2024.

—Joe Miller, commissioner, Official Representative for the purpose of voting at the annual meeting of the County Commissioner’s Association of Ohio for 2024.

—Susan Schie, Holmes County commissioner clerk, County Prevailing Wage officer; and County HIPPA Privacy officer.

—Arnold Oliver, Holmes County Planning Commissioner, County Labor Compliance officer; and County Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program representative.

—Christopher Young, Holmes County engineer, and County Issue One Labor Compliance officer alternate.

—Larry Meherg, Holmes County Apiary Inspector.

“Our beekeeper is doing a wonderful job,” Miller said.

Brad Conn, Holmes County Juvenile Court officer, agreed to continue his role as a member of the County Law Library Resource Board. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2028.

In other commissioner news, a resolution was passed accepting the contract for residential treatment services between Warren County and Holmes County. This agreement executes an agreement between the two counties for Warren County to host juveniles from Holmes County in the amount of $200 per day during 2024.

The agreement is through Mary Haven Youth Center, a division of the Warren County Juvenile Court, which is willing to provide this service. The residents will participate in the Response Ability Pathways Program, which encourages individualized treatment for each juvenile. Programming includes cognitive behavior modification, education, recreation and religious opportunities. Treatment available to residents includes counseling, sex offender treatment, trauma and grief component treatment for adolescents and substance abuse treatment.

“Their beds have gone from $175 to $200 this year,” Schie told the commissioners.

“According to Dan Jackson (Holmes County Department of Job & Family Services director), that is normal cost of inflation,” Hall added.

A force account resolution with the Holmes County engineer was passed resolving that the health, welfare and safety of the general public can best and most efficiently be served by force account in matters pertaining to maintenance, repair, construction and reconstruction of Holmes County roads, bridges and culverts.

With numerous government items either obsolete or unneeded in 2024, the commissioners passed a resolution for the purpose of expressing the board’s intent to conduct an internet auction for the sale of unneeded, obsolete or unfit county personal property.

“It’s so we can put items on govdeals.com,” Schie said.

A force account only applies to instances where the engineer is acting as a “contractor, using labor employed by the engineer using material and equipment either owned by the county or leased or purchased in compliance with the competitive bidding statutes.”

Stony Hill Mixing was approved for brine application to its parking areas.

A resolution was passed approving Title IV-D contract, an annual resolution through Holmes County Job & Family Services.

Jason Troyer, Holmes County Emergency Management director, said the county has developed a contract with area churches to create cooling and warming stations during highly inclement weather conditions.

“It’s standard operating procedures,” Troyer said. “We didn’t have anything in writing. This (agreement) has to be in conjunction with a power outage of longer than four hours. For heat, there has to be a heat index of at least 105 degrees. Anything that would open a warming station must be below 32 degrees.”

Troyer said he and Holmes EMA assistant director Jordan Tschiegg have met with a half dozen area churches willing to serve in that capacity, noting that the Chamber of Commerce and Commissioner’s building could also be utilized under dangerous weather circumstances. Once the Holmes County Health Department building is complete in 2024, it will serve as an option.

“Our goal is to have at least five warming and cooling stations open in the county when it is affected,” Troyer said.

“It was a good meeting with the churches,” Tschiegg said. “It’s something they can help us with.”

Tschiegg added that he is wrapping up work on creating a resource book for Holmes County that includes all emergency contact numbers.

A resolution was passed authorizing the establishment of the Department of Development Grant to be included in the county budgetary system.

This newly requested fund will be line-item money used for the purpose of expenses for the Cherry Ridge water line extension project.

“I was three recently, and they are coming along nicely,” Hall said of the Cherry Ridge work.

The commissioners also made numerous transfers within a fund, something that Hall said was typical line-item juggling by departments that are normal for departments at year-end where departments are moving money around to balance out their budgets.