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Commissioners’ Corner
More on MCO,
CORSA and MARCS
August is gone and with it the official end of summer. That means
schools are back in session, High School football is in full swing,
swimming pools will be closing soon, and the weather will slowly get
cooler and less humid. It is hard to believe that this year is 2/3rds
gone already!
This month is always a little slower than the others because of the
Great Darke County Fair. The fair is special here, and usually a week
before the fair, fair week and a couple of days later is dead here in
the office. It is strange, few calls, and few people coming in for that
time period. It allows us to catch up on some things, and to meet our
representatives and talk about the upcoming budget at the Statehouse.
We are being cautious about the MCO vote from the Senate, but we are
hopeful things will get worked out. If not, we will be preparing for
next year, and beyond.
Commissioners Stegall and Aultman were in Columbus on Friday the 25th
to hear a report on our insurance provider, CORSA (County Risk Sharing
Authority). Because of the amount of preventative programs we are doing
(defensive driving courses, H.R. management, building safety, etc.)
CORSA had a good year, and that should translate to our premiums being
held in check. We will know later how much of an increase or not we
will receive. Our health insurance review with CEBCO (County Employees
Benefit Consortium) is later next month, and our preventative measures
with our wellness program have helped us keep costs to a minimum for
several years now. This good news is because of our employees buying
into the health and wellness program we have established.
In other happenings, we are seeing a marked increase in fuel sales at
the airport, and more traffic. The new manager, Seth Timmerman, is
doing a great job, and we are working on hangers, as we have people
wanting to rent them. Our airport got a real nice comment on one of the
aviation websites, AirNav, from a man from Maryland. Things continue to
progress, and the runway renovation next year will surely increase our
exposure to others.
Earlier in the year, several of our elected officials came to us
wanting to move out to the plaza on Wagner Avenue for more space. That
has been put on hold for several reasons; One is we are not sure of the
budget coming out of Columbus with the MCO senate vote, and what will
happen either way. This could affect us for the next several years.
Another reason is we have recently seen some interest in the open space
at the plaza. With that, the elected officials in the Courthouse are
looking to redo the inside of the Courthouse to fit their needs. We
will keep everyone posted on what will happen.
The biggest news coming out of our office was the resolution to put on
the ballot a .45 mill levy to build and maintain a complete new
communication system for our emergency responders including fire,
rescue, police and sheriff. This levy if passed will fund the new MARCS
radios (Multi-Agency Radio Communications System), license fees,
maintenance fees, programming, repeaters, and mobile units for all
entities in the county. This levy will also allow us to have extra
money put in its own fund to assure the continued funding of this
system in the future. We intend to keep everyone well informed. Please
ask your local emergency personnel about the importance of this levy.
The public is always welcome to attend one of our public sessions. We
meet every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioner’s
Office located at 520 South Broadway in Greenville, just south of the
Courthouse. Hope to see you there!
The Darke County Commissioners
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