Hall accepts Holmes commissioner chairman role
Commissioner Dave Hall, left, accepts the commissioner’s chair gavel from outgoing commissioner chairman Joe Miller during the recent commissioner meeting on Jan. 8.
One of the initial acts of the Holmes County Commissioner Board during its Monday, Jan. 8 meeting was to conduct the dissolution of the old Organization of County Commissioners and reinstate the new one for 2024.
Included in that action was naming commissioner Dave Hall as the acting chairman for 2024. Commissioner Joe Miller, former chairman, was tabbed as the vice chairman.
While commissioner Ray Eyler was absent from the meeting, Miller said he had spoken with Eyler days earlier, and he was on board with all of the nominations.
Before turning the chairman role over to Hall, Miller addressed the few county employees at the weekly meeting and sang their praises, noting they are a big reason the county is in the positive state it is currently.
“I’ve been doing this (chairing) the past two years, and I never had to ask anyone to do their job,” Miller said. “You are self-starters, and we are blessed to have you.”
Hall then accepted the role as chairman from Miller and said he was honored to do so, stating he appreciated Miller’s leadership throughout the past two years and said he had accomplished a great deal during that time.
“We work to get things done together,” Hall said. “That’s Holmes County.”
Miller said 2023 brought with it plenty of challenges and many great accomplishments including the ongoing erection of the new Holmes County Health Department building on Glen Drive in Millersburg.
He went on to note 2024 will bring its own set of unique challenges.
“I think our challenges in the future are going to be different,” Miller said. “We need to be prepared for more people coming in.”
While those challenges are certain to arise, Hall said the other side of the coin can help the county grow even stronger.
“With every challenge comes opportunity,” Hall said. “This county has always stepped up, and everyone always seems willing to step in. We have a great team in the commissioners office and great departments that can take us to the next level of serving individuals and people throughout the county.
“This county has a legacy of working with people, and I look forward to chairing that partnership with the board and the people of Holmes County.”
Following the act of naming Hall chairman, the commissioners completed the annual formalities that accompany each new year.
That including resetting the annual commissioner’s weekly business meeting date and time, which remained Mondays at 10 a.m. The deadline to receive business documents for the weekly meetings was set for each Thursday at 9 a.m. prior to each Monday meeting.
The uniform pay schedule for county employees remained set at 26 pay periods while the county mileage rate was set at 67 cents per mile for 2024.
Hall then rattled off the commissioner appointments for 2024.
Miller will serve on the 9-1-1 board, the community correction board, the Issue I board, and the adult probation and records commission.
Eyler will serve as representative on the community care board and solid waste advisory board.
Hall will take on roles with Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, OSU Extension Advisory Board, Family and Children First Council, Local Emergency Planning Commission, Issue 1 board, opioid settlement board of revisions, and Eastern Ohio Development Alliance.
“I think this works really well for all of us,” Hall said. “It allows the flow of a lot of the stuff we’ve had happening. We have a lot of things going on in these boards, and this team does really well at dividing up and serving these duties.”
The holiday schedule for the county is as follows: Jan. 1, New Year’s; Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Day; Feb. 19, Presidents Day; May 27, Memorial Day; June 19, Juneteenth; July 4, Independence Day; Sept. 2, Labor Day; Oct. 14, Columbus Day; Nov. 11, Veterans Day; Nov. 28-29, Thanksgiving and the day after a personal vacation day for all county employees; and Dec. 25, Christmas.
There also was a resolution reappointing membership to the advisory board for the Stark Regional Community Corrections Center to Roger Estill. Estill has served on the board and will continue to do so on a three-year term.
“We appreciate Roger accepting another term,” Hall said. “He’s done a really good job of representing us as a county, and we appreciate his willingness and anyone’s willingness to serve on these boards.”
The board also passed a resolution accepting the Holmes County Emergency Management Agency to accept Emergency Management Preparedness Grant funds in the amount of $45,516.
Holmes County EMA Director Jason Troyer said this is an annual grant, and while this amount is $10,000 less than was received last year, it remains at a higher level than the county was receiving pre-COVID.
“This grant is used for salaries for EMA office and is a 50% reimbursable grant, so every quarter we put in, we’ll get back 50% up to that max,” Troyer said.