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Commissioner’s Corner
Record crowds at the
fair; great weather
The Great Darke County Fair is underway and with the cooler
temperatures and perfect weather, it seems as if the Fair could be in
for record crowds. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, and
as of this writing, there have been very few incidents to report, and
so far, nothing major. It seems as though we have a lot more
visitors from in state and out of state this year, and some we have
talked to have made the trip just to come to the Fair! One
gentleman and his wife made the trip from near Cleveland just because
they had heard of the Great Darke County Fair! That is a good
thing!
One of the highlights of the Fair was when the State Director of
Agriculture, Mr. Dave Daniels stopped by on August 21st. Mr.
Daniels toured the Fairgrounds with Representative Jim Buchy, State Ag
Advisory Board Member Jeff Wuebker from Versailles, Dennis Baker, and
Commissioner Mike Stegall. Mr. Daniels enjoyed going through the
barns and gave a short speech to the participants in several of
them. He really seemed to enjoy the beef and pork sandwiches that
the Cattlemen’s Association fed him. Mr. Daniels then gave a
short speech at the Versailles F.F.A. display before going back to
Columbus. Thank you, Mr. Daniels for visiting our Fair, and
thanks to Jim Buchy for bringing him here.
Even as the Fair goes on, the business of the County does not
stop. Although things slow down Fair week, some things still must
be addressed. One of the areas we can make an announcement in is
in personnel. We are pleased to welcome Katie McCabe as the
counties new Emergency Management Specialist. Katie is from New
Madison, and interviewed very well and is qualified to handle this new
position. We welcome Katie to the team. The DC Animal Shelter has
also added a new employee, Tyler Jobes. Tyler replaces an
employee who left, and according to Duane Sanning, Tyler has picked up
on the job fairly quickly. Congratulations to Tyler and also
welcome to the team.
One area of concern we have had is with the Sheriff’s Department.
Since the building was constructed, the air ducts have not been
cleaned. We have recently approved a contract with Service-Tech
Corporation out of Dayton to clean all of the duct work in the
building. Service-Tech’s contract is for $18,068.00, and should
take several days to complete. No start date has yet been
set. We have done air quality checks on the building for Carbon
Dioxide and Oxygen levels, and numerous other airborne problems.
All readings were above standards, but this was a recommended
procedure. We are slowly trying to do upgrades on all of our
buildings as funds become available. We are looking at doing some
work in the Courthouse and at the Garst Avenue Facility as well.
The Wagner Avenue Complex is also in consideration for some work.
It is important to maintain our buildings and vehicles so we can
maximize the life of them and get the most for the people’s money.
On the economic front, Marc Saluk has taken a much needed
vacation. Marc and Melanie both are putting in a lot of hours, so
it is good to see Marc get away to recharge his batteries. There
is much going on with existing businesses, and our main focus for the
foreseeable future is going to be workforce development. We are
seeing more companies get on board with this program, as they see the
benefit of a well-trained workforce specifically for their needs.
This program will require a lot of time and effort, but is well worth
it. We will keep everyone informed as we progress in our
efforts. Also this week, the Commissioners approved the
annexation of property on Jackson Street for Reid Hospital. Reid
is planning on a very nice complex of buildings, hopefully starting in
the spring. The plan is for the first building to be somewhere in
the $5 million dollar range. Now that the annexation has been
approved by the County, Greenville City will vote on the project in
October. There are a lot of positive happenings in Darke County, and
the Economic Department, The Partnering for Progress Initiative, all
County C.I.C.’s and the Chambers of Commerce in the county will
continue to promote business growth and expansion to make Darke County
stronger.
When this is printed, the fair will almost be over. We encourage
everyone to enjoy it while it is here, and to look forward to next
year. We also want everyone in the County to become more involved
with County Government. We need your input. Won’t you plan
to attend a Commissioners meeting soon? We meet every Monday and
Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioner’s office located at 520 S.
Broadway in Greenville, just south of the Courthouse. Enjoy the
Fair, and hope to see you at one of our meetings soon!
The Darke County Commissioners
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