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Commissioners Corner...
Your input wanted on
911 issue
County continues leadership in economic development
As this is written, the weather is a balmy 45 degrees. Not bad
for a February in the Miami Valley. I am sure most of us will
take this right up until spring. However, winter is not over yet and
the possibility is still there for some severe weather. We will keep
our fingers crossed.
Things are moving along nicely in the County so far this year.
All of the Elected Officials are working within their established
budgets, as is the Commissioner’s Office. We constantly
state how fortunate we are to have such dedicated and conservative
Department Heads. As things continue to hopefully improve
financially for the County, we will all continue to use the dollars we
receive from you the citizens, as wisely as we can, and still maintain
an excellent level of service.
One problem we see on the horizon is the loss of funding for 911
service’s. Right now, the county sees a $.28 per month charge for
cell phone usage. This brings in an estimated $115,000 dollars a
year. This amount along with the money from the County General Fund
($653,335.00), assures 911 operations. The $.28 per month charge will
sunset on December 31st, 2012, if it is not renewed. This will
have an adverse effect on our ability to meet the mandate for the “Next
Gen” system of 911. The upgrade to the “Next Gen” system will cost
approximately $500,000 to $600,000 dollars. As most of you have
heard by now, we are proposing a ¼% sales tax, to be voted on by you
the public, to help offset the loss of funding if Columbus cannot come
up with a solution. All three Commissioners will be available to
talk to any and all groups of people to explain this complicated
situation. Please contact us if you wish to have one of us speak
to your group or neighborhood about this situation. This request
for funding is completely up to you the citizens to decide, so we want
the public to be as informed as possible. Later on, we will have
articles in all the local papers explaining how this money will be
spent.
On the economic front, Darke County continues to be a leader in the
Dayton Region for Expansion and Retention efforts. At the
Partnering for Progress (P4P) breakfast held at the Brick Room of the
Brethren Home on Friday February 17th, Marc Saluk the Economic
Development Director gave a program on the successes Darke County is
having. As of now, 22 companies have some sort of project on the
table, either for this year or in the future. With more than 650
plus jobs added in the last year, Darke County is leading the region in
economic development. Marc has assured all of us that the future
looks bright for us, and we will continue to assist our companies in
their continued growth and expansion. One of the bright spots of
the morning was naming FramGroup as the “Business of the Quarter.” As
of this writing, FramGroup has almost doubled their workforce.
Congratulations to everyone involved at FramGroup! One area of
concern is workforce development. This problem is being tackled
at the Governor’s Office as his top priority. This is also one of
our top priorities this year. Marc and the Greenville Tech School
are partnering with local businesses to develop a curriculum to assure
our businesses have a steady and reliable supply of workers to fulfill
their open positions. Once again, Darke County is leading the way
on this. Many thanks should be given to the Greenville School system
for their eagerness to get on board on this project that will benefit
the entire county. Not only will students be involved, but adult
workers can also take part in this effort. To reiterate, this is
a County wide effort, not just for the City of Greenville. This
effort truly shows that “Partnering for Progress” is a lot more than
just a catch phrase for us, it is a reality.
The Commissioners meet publicly every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
in the Commissioner’s Office, at 520 South Broadway in
Greenville. Hope to see you there!
The Darke County Commissioners
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