Commissioners transfer jail bond to engineer’s office
The end of one bond has paved the way for the Holmes County Commissioners to delegate those funds to a new county project.
At the Monday, March 10 meeting, the Holmes County Commissioners passed a pair of connected resolutions, one authorizing the establishment of the Highway & Bridge Facility Project to be included in the Holmes County Budgetary System and the other approving sales tax money to be placed in the Highway & Bridge Facility Project Fund.
According to Joe Miller, the county had a bond that generated $12,000 per month with the Holmes County Jail that was recently completed, a bond that had been in place since 1992.
“We have agreed to give that money to (Holmes County engineer Chris Young’s office) because he is trying to get funds to build a new garage,” Miller said. “He can use it for anything, but it is basically providing leverage to get the new building.”
Miller said the commissioners have the capacity to terminate the funds at any time.
The commissioners accepted a bid from Stanley Miller Construction Company of East Sparta in the amount of $1,740,237 to move forward with the Berlin Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion.
Miller said this was a rebid project, with the initial stage failing to meet the county’s required price estimate.
“Commissioner Dave Hall said that the county is working in conjunction with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on the project, and this project needs to begin soon because the window of opportunity for both the Ohio EPA and the county coincide.”
The commissioners accepted the matching grant contract for Fiscal Year 2025 Ohio Airport Improvement Program.
According to Hall, because the county is officially the owner of the property, it was necessary for the board to honor the grant, which will be utilized for the purpose of upgrading the airport runways.
Miller said, “This is something totally separate from what we are planning to do with the airport. This is not for buildings.”
The buildings Miller made reference to are the proposed building of new hangars and possibly a new terminal.
The agreement to rehabilitate the runways was made in conjunction with Ohio Department of Transportation, with a cost set at $490,967 with federal funds assuming $441,870, state funds from ODOT devoting $24,548 and local funds from the Holmes County Airport Authority covering $24,549 for the project.