Jefferson County commissioners streamline grant advisory board
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- The Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District is jumping into the Appalachian Grant application process, pulling its multi-county recreational projects from the countywide project pool so its board can oversee the planning process for themselves.
The move comes as the Jefferson County commissioners said Thursday they want a smaller, more nimble grant committee to oversee Phase II of the countywide Appalachian Grant process--developing a workable plan to implement the projects they'd identified in Phase 1.
Commissioner Dave Maple said it's all about "the need to be faster."
"Sometimes a larger committee is cumbersome and meetings take longer," he said. "I can't speak for Eric (Commissioner Eric Timmons, a former Steubenville city councilman) but he probably sees the difference between being a three-person board and a larger council."
"No question about that," Timmons replied.
"I think you're spot on," Commissioner Tony Morelli added. "It's smaller, it's quicker -- we really need to get moving, it's due in December, the development project."
Maple said a smaller steering committee "can be a better resource than the larger committees."
In notifying commissioners of their intention, members of the conservation district board said the Appalachian Grant opportunity "was a natural fit for several of the initiatives we've been working on and collaborating with you, the Board of Commissioners, for these many years."
JSWCD board members pointed to the partnerships they've already created in Perry, Meigs, Scioto, Muskingum, Columbiana "and many other counties and communities throughout Appalachia that have seen our activities flourish and thus place a large burden of responsibility upon our shoulders as the fates of so many entities now rest on our success.
"As authors of these activities, we feel it is necessary and in the best interest of all involved that we rise to the occasion and take the responsibility of application on ourselves," board members concluded.
The five projects district officials will be tackling on their own are the Appalachian Pollinator Trail and Quaker Ridge Arboretum; the Hellbender Preserve Project; Piney Fork Trail Project; Morgan's Raid Battlefields Project and Appalachian Canoe/Kayak River Trail.
Aaron Dodds, project manager for the district, said the scope of their project has adapted to the regional approach the governor had touted when he announced the grant program six months ago.
"Those other counties signed on to our activity," Dodds said. "The burden is largely on soil and water now to figure out how best to move forward and make sure we are serving everyone the best we can. It was not by any stretch of the imagination an easy decision to make, but the board felt it was the best decision. We'll help formulate and work with these individuals, they can pick up phone and work directly with us and the unique voice of all these different entities will be heard in our application."
Dodds said withdrawal frees up funds and focus for smaller projects that were in need of the additional dollars.
"A lot of (JSWCD's) projects are mature, they just never had funding to do them," Maple agreed. "They don't need the assistance some of the other projects might need."
He said he'd had a good conversation with JSWCD board and, "I think what they're trying to do is the right thing."
"I really don't know if there's any wrong decision," Morelli said. "We have a lot of good projects, go for it."
Applications are going to be scored against a rubric developed by the state.
"I hope everything we submit scores as high as possible," Morelli added, pointing out they're all county projects no matter who does the legwork. "Soil and water has been working on some of these projects for years. It's not how I saw it, how I thought it was going to happen, but I don't see any negative to it."
Morelli said he's fired up about the grant opportunity, "and as a sitting commissioner, I'll use any tool we have to promote any project in Jefferson County. Regardless of how the applications are made, the end result is a better county for all of us."
Commissioners also:
— Referred the three bids for the county Road 22 and county Road 22a resurfacing project to Engineer Jim Branagan for review. Bidding were Cast and Baker of Canonsburg, $1,750,803.60; NLS Paving of St. Clairsville, $1,429,662.35; and Shelly & Sands of Rayland, $1,394,524.50. The engineer's estimate for the work was $1,300,376.
— Rejected bids submitted last week for the county Roads 50, 60, 75 and 75A resurfacing bids, which all came in well above the engineer's estimate. Construction Engineer Eric Hilty said they've upped the project estimate to $801,750 and will rebid it.
— Agreed to advertise for bids for relocation of a county waterline on state Route 151 and county Road 1, to be funded by the water department. The move is necessitated by an Ohio Department of Transportation road widening project, Water and Sewer District Director Mike Eroshevich said. He told commissioners he expects the move to cost about $100,000, with the cost covered by the water department.
— Approved Prosecutor Jane Hanlin's request for funds to replace an "aged color copier that's "no longer feasible to use as the parts for repair are no longer accessible" with a new color printer. She submitted quotes from three companies -- Borden's, CDW and World Radio Telecommunications, ranging from $710 to $1,104. Borden's was chosen even though it wasn't the lowest option because its toner cartridges will be less expensive, which Chief Deputy Auditor Joe Boni said "should more than cover the difference in cost over a period of time."
— Reappointed Brandon Reese to the county airport authority board. "That's a good, strong board out there," Morelli said. "Those guys dedicate a lot of their time … it's good that he wants to come back.
— Agreed to cover expenses for county Coroner Dr. Michael Scarpone and Deputy Coroner Dr. George Van Weelden to attend their state association's annual conference in Columbus, as well as Eroshevich's participation at an Ohio Wastewater Workshop, necessary continuing education hours required for his Ohio EPA wastewater treatment license.
— Passed a resolution authorizing the sheriff to sell eight obsolete vehicles to a salvage yard, where they can be destroyed.