County saving money through new state contract

COSHOCTON – The Coshocton County Commissioners met for their biweekly meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 8:30 a.m. Doris Frank, deputy treasurer, presented the Investment Portfolio to the commissioners and discussed real estate taxes, which are due Friday, Feb. 22. The treasurer’s office will be open on that day until 6 p.m. So far, 7.2 million dollars has been collected.

At 9:30 a.m., the commissioners went into executive session with Christine Sycks, county auditor, and Todd Shroyer, EMS, to discuss employee compensation. At 10 a.m., the commissioners went into executive session with Deb Bigelow, Soil and Water, and Fred Wachtel, county engineer, to discuss employee compensation.

Jeff Wherley, Litter and Recycling, presented the 2012 report to the commissioners. Last year, Wherley gave 17 presentations to youth organizations and schools about recycling and litter prevention, reaching 637 students. Wherley also gave 10 presentations to adult groups, reaching 61 people. Wherley also reported that a total of 267,756 pounds of recycling was collected last year.  Coshocton County Recycling and Litter Prevention also had five displays at county functions: The Coshocton County Fair, Black Bear Fest, Hot Air Balloon Festival, the Career Center Open House, and at their office. They are also partnering with AEP for Earth Day, and the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation and OSU Extension for a composting workshop in March.

Mike LaVigne, IT Director, updated the commissioners on a state contract through ATT that went through and will not only double all connection speeds in the county, but save $200 a month for each location. This new contract should save the county $15,000 this year and $22,000 in 2014.

Last year, the IT Department started to replace servers in the county and they would like to continue that project this year for a cost of $15,000. LaVigne also reported that three of the five SANDs are at the end of their life and need replaced. The cost would be $38,850 for three new SANDs with triple the storage space. Two switches, one at the engineer office and the other at the airport, need to be replaced for a cost of $12,900. LaVigne also proposed a redundant connection from the sheriff’s office back to the annex, so if one connection goes down, another can be used as a back-up, for a total cost of $9,930.

There is currently $55,388 in funds to utilize for new equipment for the IT department. All projects proposed by LaVigne could be covered by the end of the year. The commissioners decided to replace the servers and SANDs immediately and save the two other projects for a later date.

Also discussed at the commissioners meeting:

–          Report of meetings attended

–          A motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as presented was approved.

–          Receive the dog warden’s report for the week ending Feb. 11 with eight dogs picked up by the warden, two dogs brought in as strays, nine dogs destroyed, six citations issues, 22 calls handled, eight dog licenses sold, six late fees paid, two dogs redeemed, two dogs per owner surrendered, and $15 in boarding fees collected for a total of $283.

–          A motion to approve a meeting request for the Clerk of Courts to attend the Ohio Clerk of Courts Association Meeting on Feb. 20 in Columbus at an estimated cost of $120 was approved.

–          Receive the certificate of the county auditor that the total appropriations from each fund do not exceed the official estimate of resources.

–          Receive the official amended certificate of estimated resources dated Feb. 11 from the Coshocton County budget commission

–          A motion to approve the following Then and Now Certificates which have been certified by the county auditor was approved. See link: Then and Now

–          A motion to approve the following Transfers/Additionals/Reductions which have been certified by the County Auditor was approved. See link: Transfers

–          A motion to sign Resolution 2013-12 for the payment of finance charges and /or late fees for the Coshocton County Common Pleas Court payment to Graphic Enterprises was approved.

–          A motion to sign a request for payment and status of funds report for grant B-C-11-1AP-1 in the amount of $9,725 as requested by John Cleek, CDC of Ohio was approved.

Category: Government