|
9:31:40 AM |
Bid Opening FY08
Wauseon Maple Street Sidewalk Replacement Project |
Bids were received
as follows:
Mika Construction,
Inc.
Lyons, OH
$25,890.00
Heer Excavating,
Inc.
Archbold, OH
$28,860.00
Midwest Contracting,
Inc.
Holland, OH
$18,000.00
The bids will be
referred to the Regional Planning Office for review and
recommendation for award of bid. |
|
10:53:20 AM |
Visit from John
Ryan, State Director and Danielle Nameth, State Liaison from
Senator Sherrod Brown's Office |
Commissioner Genter
joined the meeting.
State Liaison,
Danielle Nameth, stated that their general objective for today
was to open dialogue to see what is going on in the community
and to see if there is anyone that is need of help from the
federal government. She stated that there was a meeting held
this morning wherein she coordinated with many non-profit
organizations including United Way, a 211 Representative &
Substance Abuse Organizations.
State Director, John
Ryan, stated that when Mr. Brown was first elected to office it
was his mission to see how he could be most helpful to the 88
counties in the 1st 2 years. They would go around
and ask questions and by doing that they started to see trends,
which helped establish a baseline for the needs throughout the
state. He and his staff continue to meet with elected
officials, non-profit organizations, businesses, chambers, and
farmers, to further identify problems and to see where they can
help.
He stated that the
Senators big area of concern is with health care. He doesn’t
want to see people getting forced out of their health care plan
if they are satisfied with it and he wants to hold costs and
make it more affordable.
Mr. Ryan stated that
Senator Brown currently serves on 5 Committees:
-
Ag Committee
-
Banking
Committee, which includes housing
-
Health Care
Reform Committee, which includes education, labor and
pensions
-
Veteran’s
Committee
-
Ethics Committee
Ms. Nameth asked
what kind of activity is being seen locally. Commissioner Short
stated that the County is working on the Northeast Fulton County
Water System. This is a $6 Million project. $3.3 Million has
been received in stimulus and grant funds thus far, which still
leaves a significant shortfall. He stated that Governor
Voinovich is working on an additional $500K and Congressman
Latta is working on an additional $1 Million. The rest will be
a 0% loan. He stated that any additional support through grants
or stimulus funds would be greatly appreciated as it would be
very beneficial to the residents. Ms. Nameth stated that there
is currently a bill in that is being supported by Senator Brown
and Governor Voinovich called the Water Quality Investment
Act. Commissioner Barnaby stated that the County is working a
on a project involving a waterline from Archbold to Wauseon,
stating that there was a fire in Wauseon a couple of years back
and they ran out of water. Commissioner Short stated that this
is part of the SR 109 and SR 108 Water Projects, which will be
connecting 3 Villages, Wauseon, Pettisville and Archbold. Ms.
Nameth stated that as she goes around the state, the biggest
issues she sees are Water Infrastructure, Unemployment, and
Green Energy. Commissioner Genter asked if they were familiar
with the anemometer towers that have gone up in the county.
Archbold, Pettisville, Fayette Schools and Northwest State
Community College are involved. He stated that the results that
they have gotten back so far are showing higher results than in
Bowling Green.
Commissioner Short
stated that Fulton County has an organization called the Alano
Club that helps those in situations where alcohol and drugs are
involved and wondered if there were any dollars available to
help out that organization. He stated that they currently run
on donations. They provide a tremendous service to people and
the community t and Judges are ordering the use of the facility
in some cases. Mr. Ryan stated that if the contact info can be
sent to them, they can possibly get this included in the health
care reform. He also stated that they have a gentleman that
deals strictly with grants and can take a look to see what may
be available and connect with them.
Commissioner Genter
stated that Fulton County is also part of a 4 County Joint Board
with Williams, Henry, and Defiance Counties. He explained that
they understand the value of regionalism. He stated that this
Board works well together and works well as a region, not just
as separate entities. Ms. Nameth stated that there is a bill up
to promote regionalism in Economic Development also as it
relates to energy and advanced medical technology.
Commissioner Barnaby
stated that Fulton is part of Area 7, along with 43 other
counties, which is working with the state on a tracking system
that tracks jobs that are applied for in the job centers and
what those applicants have done and learned through the center.
Commissioner Short stated that one of the biggest complaints
they heard before was that people would come into the job center
and get lost in the system. This new system will help better
track who they are helping and how many. This will tremendously
increase the effectiveness of the system.
Ms. Nameth asked
about the economic situation. Commissioner Genter stated that
the unemployment rate in Fulton County is at 13.8% right now
with the county being tied to so many manufacturing jobs and
with all the changes. He stated that that there are still a lot
of challenges and that they won’t be out of the recession for
awhile yet, however, there are some calls coming in for economic
development in the county.
He further stated
that as elected officials it is their duty to watch and reduce
spending. The County has gone to Health Savings Accounts for
employees which has changed the way that employees shop for
health care and has reduced claims for the county. Mr. Ryan
asked if there have been any layoffs. Commissioner Short stated
that a tremendous amount of cuts have been made but have stopped
at the point of layoffs. Mr. Ryan stated that no layoffs
speaks wells for the county as there are many other well run
entities that have had to layoff. Commissioner Short explained
that they have encouraged the employee’s participation in an
early retirement plan and that they have done a lot of recouping
of dollars and refining departments. He stated that the value
of the employees does mean a lot, and they need to keep people
working.
Ms. Nameth said to
encourage contacts and constituents to contact their office so
they can help. The Board stated that they appreciate the work
they do in Ohio as Senator Brown is a very active Senator and
all they do for Northwest Ohio. Mr. Ryan stated they are always
looking for stories regarding what people want in government so
they can be more helpful, what has been helpful and situations
where they were not as helpful as they should be. This helps
the Senator stay in touch and concentrate on areas of need.
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